A Different Cinderella Story
by Laura the explorer 91
Summary: Lily McManus lives with her evil Stepmom and sisters who are always giving her hassle, ever since her dad died nothing has been the same. One day online though she stumbles across a chatroom and meets a guy named MacMan.. could he be her Prince Charming?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: **Hey guys and Gals! :) This is one of my latest Fanfics on here. I've recently fell in love with the film A Cinderella Story and wanted to create my own version of it including two different characters, not Sam and Austin. It's my own take on it so i hope you like it! :) Feedback is always appreciated and if you like it, i'll post the next chapter :)

Just letting you know that one of the characters is my own personal made up one and the other is the wonderfully talented Seth MacFarlane :)

Anyway Enjoy! xxx

* * *

_"Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl and her widowed father who lived happily in downtown Los Angeles. It wasn't exactly a fairytale kingdom but to me, it had everything a girl needed. My dad and me hung out everyday; we were best friends._

_I wasn't exactly up to date on the latest fashion or make-up trends but I was never bothered, I never missed out on anything important. My dad taught me everything I knew and always supported me through everything._

_Our favourite hang out place was the Diner, my dad owned it and hired the most amazing staff, and I loved every one of them. It was the most popular diner in downtown LA; I loved everything about it._

_Every year I had a birthday party down there that my dad threw for me, but this year's one I'll never forget. I turned 12 and my dad told me to blow out the candles on my cake and make a special wish, but why did I need a wish? I already had everything I wanted, the coolest dad and the best friends a girl could ask for._

_Well I suppose wishing for a new bike wouldn't be a bad thing, but instead of the bike… I got Rachel. She came into my life and had soon got my dad hooked around her finger, next thing I know… I'm getting a new stepmom... lucky me. _

_At first I was happy that I had somebody to share my girl problems with, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it too. But she made my dad happy, so I was happy too._

_Along with my new stepmom though came my new stepsisters Gail and Abi, not your typical sisters but I was happy to welcome them to the family. But as the months past, I knew something was wrong by the way Rachel was treating me, but my dad couldn't see it. He was still treating me like a princess and telling me everyday that he loved me, my dad was my rock and I never wanted anything to happen to spoil it._

_One night though, my whole world changed; we were reading one of my fairytale stories when all of a sudden Rachel shouted "Fire! Help!" so dad took off running to go and help everybody out of the house. Knowing that fire caused devastation, I packed some of my most valuable things and then ran out the house to safety._

_By the time we got outside, the fire had spread but Gail's pet rabbit was trapped inside so dad being brave, ran inside to go and rescue it. But that's when something terrible happened, the fire caught the fuse box and then the next thing I knew, I was watching my kingdom crumble before my feet with my dad trapped inside._

_I lost my best friend that night, everything changed and my life felt empty. The only fairytales that were in my life were the ones I read in my books. Nothing was the same after that, I blame Gail entirely, if it wasn't for her stupid rabbit I'd still have my best friend, my rock, my everything._

_The most devastating thing though, was that my dad didn't leave a Will, so Rachel got everything; the diner, the cars, all the money to buy a new house and sadly… she got me._

_Rachel went on a spending spree to rebuild the house and she changed it completely, it wasn't the same house I remembered… partly because she'd painted it pink and the furniture had to match. But she didn't care what I did with my room, which was the attic. I could do whatever I wanted with it; with the little furniture she gave me, a bed, a chair, a few boxes of books, some second hand clothes and the box of memories I'd managed to save from the house fire. I'd grabbed everything I could, luckily saving the Fairytail book my dad read to me every night before bed. It was the start of my new life without dad and I was dreading every minute of it"_

10 years later…

Lily awoke suddenly to somebody shouting "Lily! Lily why isn't my breakfast on the table!" Lily rubbed her forehead and peeled the paper off her face, which she had slept on. Another night without sleeping in a proper bed, too busy on her computer getting another story finished.

She was currently in her final year of University in downtown LA and couldn't wait to graduate. As much as she enjoyed it though, she just wanted freedom to get out and explore.

Studying so many classes was slowly getting difficult for Lily, especially controlling the work pile. Her English classes were the worst, she was hoping to be a published writer soon but her tutor kept her working hard by making her write short stories every week to help train her brain so she would be a quick thinker.

As much as it was a pain, she owed everything to her tutors, as they were the ones that encouraged her to send off her first written book to a professional writing academy. They had sent her a confirmation letter saying they'd received her book, and then they'd let her know whether it would be published once they'd read through it.

If she got accepted, she'd be able to move away from home and buy a house of her own living happy and free. Instead of working double shifts at the diner and being a slave to her stepmom and sisters. They'd been nothing but a pain for the past 10 years, but Lily just bit her tongue and rolled with the punches. But she couldn't put up with much more, if her book got rejected she'd be devastated, so right now it was all or nothing.

"Lily! I want my breakfast!" Lily shook her head from her thoughts and sighed out of tiredness and frustration.

Every morning Lily had to wake up at 6:00am, make everybody breakfast and then work down at the diner until 9:00am, then go to Uni, come home at 3:00pm and then work at the diner again, whilst trying to squeeze in time to have a social life and do her Uni assignments. It was a tough life but Lily had coped so far. But now she needed to get herself moving to make breakfast for everybody.

"What took you so long!" Lily sighed as she entered the kitchen; Rachel was already sitting at the table reading another one of her diet books. She could have easily got up and made her own breakfast, or starved herself… then she'd lose weight.

"Just couldn't get moving this morning" Lily replied as she rummaged around the kitchen to get breakfast going.

"Another late night on that silly computer, I regret buying you that thing" Lily again just bit her tongue from replying with a nasty comment, whenever she said something out of line, Rachel cut her paycheque at work.

"I only use it to study Rachel, I've got another big assignment coming up"

"Instead of giving me excuses, make my breakfast and then get down to the diner"

"Rachel I really can't go to work this morning, this assignment needs my full attention"

"Lily how many times do we need to go through this? You don't need to go to Uni, you have a job so you don't need all this University garbage"

Lily finished making Rachel's porridge and gently put it on the table, "This better be better than yesterdays batch" Rachel replied taking the spoon and shoving a mouthful in her mouth.

"Yes very nice, your services aren't needed now. Get to work" Lily just sighed as she left the kitchen to grab her stuff to head off to the diner for another pointless shift. It was only a 2 hour shift and Rachel always tried to cut her paycheque for the silliest things.

Lily left the house with her bag full of textbooks and jumped into her car, it had been her dads and she'd managed to rescue it from the evil hands of Rachel. It was her pride and joy so she rode it everywhere, not caring how old it was. She backed out of the drive and slowly made her way to work, wondering how slow her day was going to be.

* * *

"Lily what are you doing here again?" Jackie asked as Lily came through the back door and dumped her book bag down. "Another pointless morning shift" Lily replied as she started to change into her work gear.

Since Rachel took over the diner, she'd had everything covered over and all of Lily's childhood memories erased completely. The diner was now a bland pink and everybody had to wear roller-skates with their pink and black uniforms. It was ridiculous but Rachel cut paycheques and fired people if someone complained.

"Lily this has got to stop" Jackie said as she folded her arms, Jackie basically ran the diner whilst Rachel just spent all of the takings.

"She's got you waking up at stupid hours just to work pointless shifts, then you have to work long evening shifts, plus squeeze in your Uni assignments"

"I know"

"It's ridiculous Lily"

"But-"

"You can't continue like this"

"But-"

"No more buts okay? Take your books and get off to Uni, your assignments are more important"

"What about Rachel?"

"You just leave her to me okay? Now get" Lily smiled as she looked at Jackie, she'd taken care of her since she was a baby and 22 years later she was still the only one who truly believed in Lily.

"Thank you Jackie"

"No problem, I'll see you later anyway" Lily smiled as she left the diner and headed back to her car to head off to pick Josh up and then travel to Uni.

Josh was Lily's only real friend, they'd met during high school and stayed best friends ever since. Josh loved drama and theatre groups and was training to be an actor, so he was always coming up with crazy ideas and wearing some ridiculous clothes. It made him happy though, so Lily just accepted it.

"Lily, wow you're earlier," Josh said leaving his house to head towards Lily,

"Yeah sorry about that Josh, Rachel again"

"What she have you do this time?"

"Get up to make her breakfast even though she was sitting at the table"

"Wow that's just low"

"Yeah"

"You not at work this morning either?"

"I did arrive but Jackie sent me away to focus on my assignment"

"That's nice of her"

"Jackie's basically raised me so she's kinda like my mom not Rachel"

"Good things will happen soon Lily just keep your head held high" Lily smiled as she pulled away from Josh's and headed off to Uni.

It wasn't exactly her favourite place but it kept her out of Rachel's reach for a few hours. Lily wasn't really a popular person… more like an outcast just making her way through life. Whilst some left her alone, others took it upon themselves to make comments and treat her like crap. Especially the head of the cheerleading squad Amy Brannings, she and her gang of followers made silly comments to Lily and really made her feel unwelcome. She was popular with everybody and bragged that she had a celebrity boyfriend, always attention seeking. It drove Lily crazy but she kept her head down and got on with her work.

"Empty space dead ahead" Josh said pointing to an empty car parking space, the Uni parking lot was ridiculous for student parking. It was a fight everyday to get a space, if you couldn't find one you had to travel miles up the road just to park without getting a ticket.

"Ok I see it" Lily replied about to turn into the space but someone else quickly drove into it. The doors opened and out stepped Amy and her gang of followers.

"Oops sorry diner girl, I took your space" Amy said in an innocent tone and then walked off laughing with her friends.

"That girl" Josh started but had to calm himself from the anger he was feeling.

"Just ignore her Josh, that's what I've been doing" Lily replied as she quickly found another space and this time managed to get it.

"She must pick on you for a reason though"

"I think she knows Abi and Gail"

"Oh… those two"

"Don't get me started Josh"

"How did they manage to even get places at this Uni anyway?"

"Rachel and a lot of money" Josh just shook his head as they exited the car and headed towards the Uni grounds to relax before classes started.

* * *

"Got ya!" Josh said sneaking up behind Lily and picking her up off the ground.

"Jeez Josh how many times do I have to say it, don't do that!" Lily said and then laughed when Josh swung her around.

"You love me really honey" Josh said setting her back on the ground so she could continue rummaging through her bag, "What are you looking for?"

"My phone, I was in such a rush this morning I can't remember whether I took it with me"

"Expecting a text message?" Josh asked slyly with a small smirk, Lily just looked at him but couldn't help but grin. "You are aren't you?" Josh laughed as Lily blushed, "Wow you're really getting close to this guy"

"We just talk that's all, we have a lot in common" Lily replied and then smiled once she'd found her phone and as predicted, she had a text message waiting from him.

"I knew it" Josh said as he leaned on Lily's shoulder to see a new text message.

"I'll see you in class" Lily said to Josh as she walked off down the corridor to go outside during her free period.

"That's right I forgot the secret admirer is more loved than me" Josh called after her and then smiled. He was happy for Lily to be talking to somebody, as he made her confident and she always smiled. Josh smiled again as he headed towards his next class.

* * *

Lily was sitting under a tree reading one of her books, her life revolved around textbooks for studying and going to work. It was a tough life, but Lily always loved the time she had to herself where she could get lost in a book without having somebody nagging down her ear.

Her phone beeped again signalling a new message, so she picked it up and saw that it was prompting her to go onto the live chatroom. So she accepted and she saw that he was online waiting. 

_"Where've you been, it's been ages since I spoke to you"_

"We spoke this morning if you remember :)"

"_I can't get you out of my head, what's on your mind?"_

"Just reading through a textbook during my free period, how about you?"

"_Currently reading through another script, what book you reading?" _

"A fairytale one"

_"Need more details than that"_

"It's just a textbook exploring the definitions of fairytale stories"

_"Sounds exciting"_

Lily just giggled to herself, it was fun talking to this person, and he made her laugh everyday.

One day Lily was searching through the University chatroom and came across somebody called "MacMan". He was the one to start chatting to Lily who had disguised herself as "Fairytale girl" and they soon found that they had a lot in common.

From crazy senses of humour, to wearing the same brand of sneakers, MacMan was truly perfect. Lily felt she could trust him enough to have her cell number, so from then on he sent her messages everyday to make her smile.

_"So how's you day been so far?"_

"Work, work, more work, raging stepmom and trying to control work assignments, ever feel like you can't go on?"

"_I get like that sometimes, but to make things easier… I just close my eyes and think of you. Then it's all better" _Lily felt herself blushing as she read his comment, "MacMan do you think we've ever met? Like in general passing in the streets etc.?"

_"I don't know, this town isn't exactly small but I'm sure we have or maybe in the future we'll bump into each"_

"I hope so"

_"Which leads me to my question… When can we finally meet?"_

"Soon I promise" Lily was waiting for his response but her connection disappeared when her phone started ringing and it was Rachel as usual. Another long list of chores for her to do… great… this day should be fun.

* * *

"_I see you've finally returned" _Lily smiled at the message flashing on her screen, even though it was after midnight and she was exhausted from work… she had to speak to MacMan just one more time before she fell asleep.

"I'm sorry about that, my stepmom rang me and disconnected the Internet, then it was back to studying and then work, now is my only free time"

_"Sounds harsh, how do you cope?"_

"I just about manage, I always believe good things are gonna happen :)"

_"How's the new book coming along?"_

"It's going okay, starting to get a little bit of writer's block though"

"_You'll be fine, just like your other book will be accepted and you'll be famous"_ Lily smiled again at that, MacMan was always saying he believed in her and she loved it.

"Hey can I ask you something?"

_"Of course you can"_

"What made you decide to create your own TV show?" Lily had always wanted to know, he'd told her that he ran his own TV show but never said which one or what his real name was. He was a complete mystery just like she was to him. 

_"Ever since I was little I was always drawing things, it just made me happy. So when I went to college I studied animation and then made my own pilot of a cartoon show. I sent it off to different companies and next thing I know, FOX have picked it up and were asking for a full season"_

"That sounds amazing"

_"It is amazing yeah"_

"I'm certainly proud of you, you should be proud too"

_"I certainly am proud of myself, and I know that good things are gonna happen for you too with this book"_

"I haven't heard from them in weeks"

_"How long was your book?"_

"About 400 pages"

_"That might be the reason then, that'd take them weeks to read through!"_

"Lol but what if they hate it?"

_"If they hate it then they're stupid, you've put your heart and soul into it so it should be amazing, I'd love to read it"_

"Oh man is that the time? We've been talking for over an hour!"

_"Time flies when you're having fun"_

"I should turn in now"

_"Before you go I wanna ask you something"_

"Ok shoot"

_"FOX are throwing a small party in celebration of the success of my TV show tomorrow night and I was wondering whether you'd like to come?"_

"Oh wow that's awesome, tomorrow is my night off so yeah I'd love to"

"_Great, I sent your invitation in the post a couple days ago so it should arrive by tomorrow" _Lily frowned slightly at that, Rachel was always checking the mail for her things so she'd have to really keep an eye out tomorrow.

"Okay I'll keep an eye out for it"

_"Great and by the way, it's a costume party so you can come as any character you like"_

"Lol I'll think of something"

_"Please meet me at the party, I'll be waiting for you at 10pm in the middle of the dance floor, please come, night night :) xxx"_

Lily sighed as she signed off the chatroom, now he wanted to meet her? He seemed to good to be true, kind, caring and extremely funny, what did he see in her.

"No good dwelling on it, you said yes so now you gotta do it" Lily said to herself quietly and then sighed as she looked at the time. It was going past 1am and Rachel usually woke her up at 6:00am to do chores before Uni.

So she crawled into bed and grabbed as many hours sleep as she could before another day dawned.

* * *

_**Author's Note:** Please Review :) xx_


	2. Chapter 2

"Lily you've gotta stay focused otherwise when I pitch the ball it'll knock you out!" Josh shouted to Lily who was daydreaming again. She'd been lost in thought all morning and now was as good a time as ever to start focusing as they were playing baseball. They both played it when they were younger and during free periods at Uni they played just for fun.

"Sorry Josh, pitch another one" Lily shouted back and swung when Josh threw the ball.

"What's eating at ya?" Josh asked as he ducked when Lily hit a low ball.

"Just worried about something"

"Mind telling me what it is?"

"I spoke to MacMan last night"

"Yeah"

"And he's invited me to a party tonight"

"But Lily that's awesome! You'll finally get to meet him"

"I don't know Josh, he seems too good to be true"

"Oh come on Lily you talk to him everyday, you know him"

"Not exactly"

"Okay you don't know everything, but enough to know he's a real genuine person"

"But he doesn't know me, if I show up tonight I'll be crushed if I'm not what he expected. This whole thing is better to stay in the cyber world"

"Lily you have to go to the dance"

"Why?"

"He's not gonna wait around forever you know"

"I know"

"So go to the dance, if it helps I'll come with you to be your escort"

"Really?"

"Yeah, so if something happens or goes wrong I can take you home" Lily smiled as she swung the bat to hit the ball and knocked it a pretty good distance.

"Thanks Josh you're the best"

"You're very welcome sweetie, now try and hit this ball near that group of guys" Josh indicated towards a group of men who was hanging around watching everybody playing different sports. Josh was gay but Lily didn't care, she accepted him as he was and loved him like a brother.

"Whatever you say man, pitch it then" Josh threw the ball and Lily smacked it with full force towards the group of guys not to far away. So Josh could run after it and end up near them to try and talk to them.

Lily laughed as he did start engaging in conversation with them but sighed when her phone started ringing, "Hello?"

"Lily where are you! Pick up my clothes from the dry cleaners, we need more food, wash the cars and clean my room!" then Rachel hung up and Lily just sighed, it was turning out to be another typical chore filled day.

* * *

It was heading up to 6pm when Lily finally finished all her chores and some work assignments, she really needed to start getting herself ready for the party. Thankfully Rachel hadn't been around when the mail arrived so Lily sneakily checked it and found her invitation for the party. So she quickly hid it away upstairs and then continued her errands around the house.

"Our mom is looking for you" Came two voices from behind Lily who shuddered when she knew who it was.

"Where is she?" She asked both sisters and Gail answered, "She's outside by the pool" Lily nodded and headed out towards the pool where Rachel was.

She was lying on the floor on a towel working on her tan, but moved when she saw Lily, "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes" Rachel sat up and took her sunglasses off, "Have you finished all the other jobs? Cause I need you to go to the diner and work the night shift"

"Actually tonight's my night off and I've got stuff planned"

"You seriously need to stop being so selfish Lily, think about everybody else!"

"I always think of others"

"So think about me and take the night shift for me"

"Rachel I have always been good, I was a straight-A student in high school and am achieving the highest grades at Uni, I take extra classes and work 7 days a week both morning and night at the diner, I deserve a night off, and I've never asked you for anything before, please just let me take the night off"

Rachel just stared up at Lily and then sighed, "Sweetheart now that you're hear there's something I've always wanted to tell you"

"And what's that?"

"You're not very pretty, you're not attractive, you're dull and boring, no guy will ever want you" Lily felt the tears forming in her eyes but held them back."

I'm so glad we had that talk, now go and get to work" Lily just bit her lip and walked back into the house finally letting the tears fall.

This so wasn't fair! She hated this place…

* * *

Later in the evening, Lily was working down at the diner feeling miserable. It was almost time to head to the party but of course, she couldn't go. She shook her head to rid the tears and carried on making up the drinks to take to one of the tables.

"Lily you okay?" Lily turned around and saw that Stan the chef was looking concerned.

"I'm okay" Lily replied softly as she put the drinks on a tray.

"You're not very good at lying are you?"

"No"

"Tell me what's wrong Lily"

"Just Rachel being her usual self"

"What's she done?"

"I was supposed to do something tonight but she made me work a night shift instead" Stan just shook his head; he hated Rachel just as much as everybody else did there. She was mean and controlling and always treated Lily badly.

Lily picked up the tray and slowly started to make her way over to the table that ordered the drinks. But being on roller-skates she had to go slow in case she slipped. But she didn't see Rachel come into the diner, who had deliberately knocked Lily who went crashing to the floor spilling the drinks and breaking all the glasses.

"You're in my way" Rachel said sweetly as she stepped over Lily to walk towards the cash register. Lily just glared up at Rachel when she said, "Because of you damaging property it's coming out of your paycheque" eventually Lily got up off the floor with the help of a customer and just stood there and watched Rachel take all the money out of the cash register.

"I'll be going out later to drop Abi and Gail off at a party so I hope you've got your house keys, or preferably another place to stay for the night"

"Which party?"

"There's a big party downtown in celebration of something and they got invited"

"Oh"

"I'll be back by 12 sharp"

"Kay" Lily slowly rolled back over to where the mess was and started to clean it all up. Jackie had noticed the whole thing so decided to confront Rachel about it.

"You did that on purpose"

Rachel looked up and said "Oh it's you"

"That wasn't fair on Lily"

"She's the one that can't keep her balance"

"Yeah sure"

"And where are your skates? It's part of the uniform"

"If I wanted to look like a clown Rachel I'd have joined the circus by now"

"Keep giving me attitude and I'll fire you"

"Please go right ahead then, let's see how many customers you have left when you do" Rachel just looked at her before stomping out of the diner like a brat who couldn't get her own way. Jackie just shook her head but then turned her attention to Lily who was picking the bits of glass up.

"Lily sweetie I'll do that you carry on serving people"

"You sure?" Lily said as she tucked her hair behind her ears and stood up slowly,

"Yeah I'm sure"

"Thanks Jackie" Jackie smiled as Lily rolled away to go and make up some more drinks without spilling them this time.

"Lily I'm desperate, can you please please cover that back booth?" Sandra asked Lily who was cleaning up one of the counters, but looked over to the booth and her jaw dropped open. It was Abi, Gail, Adam, Joel, Amy and her celebrity boyfriend Seth MacFarlane!

"But, Sandra I ca-" Lily stuttered out but Sandra gave her a pleading look.

"Please honey can you do it? I'm up to my knees in orders to give out" Lily sighed and took the paper and pen off of her and breathed in deeply before making her way over to the booth.

* * *

"I'm going to look so hot tonight, I'll be the bell of the ball" Amy was saying to the whole group who were agreeing with her.

"I totally agree Amy you'll look amazing" Gail said in an excited tone making Amy just look at her.

"Of course I'll look amazing, won't I Seth?"

Seth just looked at Amy and said "Yeah of course" Amy smiled as she leaned into Seth and draped his arm across her giggling. Seth just rolled his eyes but looked up when he saw a young woman rolling towards the group.

"Well if it isn't little baby diner girl" Amy said in a baby voice getting sniggers from the group.

"What can I get you guys?" Lily asked ignoring all the comments.

"Well it doesn't look like you have anything healthy on this menu"

"Then go somewhere else," Lily mumbled quietly.

"Excuse me?" Amy said as she didn't hear what Lily said but Seth did and smirked.

"Sorry just had something in my throat, would you like anything?"

"Just an ice tea please"

"Make that 2" Gail said and then Abi said "Make that three and can you please get out the way, your big fat body is blocking the light" everybody sniggered again as Lily shook her head and rolled away to go and process their order, whilst trying her hardest not to put some kind of poison in their drinks.

"Eugh she's such a loser" Amy said as she put the menu back on the table, Seth just looked at her and knew it was time to say something.

"Amy I really need to talk to you, preferably in private"

"Anything you say to me Seth you can see in front of my friends"

"Okay then… I'm breaking up with you"

"What!"

"I wanna end things"

"Are you in love with somebody else? There's somebody else isn't there!"

"I think there is yeah"

"What? Who?" Joel asked really surprised that Seth had kept it from him.

"Nobody you'd know, but we can still be-" he was saying to Amy but she cut him off,

"Don't you dare say the word friend! Obviously you're just not thinking straight because of nerves for the party later tonight, so we're gonna go now and get ready, just chill out and I _will_ meet you later Seth" then Amy scooted out of the booth with Gail and Abi following close behind her.

"Well… that certainly went well" Adam said slapping his buddy on the back,

"Yeah… really well" Seth said rubbing his eyes out of frustration, why did he even get involved with these people? He was 26 and they were all 22 and acting like children.

"Lets head out" Joel said scooting out the booth with Adam following, they past Lily who was carrying there drinks over,

"Later diner girl" Joel said and then laughed with Adam.

But Seth just looked at her, "I'm sorry I can still pay for them"

"Don't worry about it" Lily said and then smiled before she rolled away back to the counter. Seth sighed as he walked off and exited the diner to start getting ready for the party tonight.

"Are those the kids you go to Uni with?" Jackie asked as she took the drinks off Lily who nodded.

"Yep"

"They're awful and those sisters of yours" Jackie just shook her head and Lily smiled but jumped when somebody tickled her ribs. She turned around and saw Josh dressed in a full tuxedo and wearing a black masquerade mask.

"Josh will you stop doing that?" Josh just smiled but then realised that Lily who dressed in her uniform working.

"You're working?"

"Yes well spotted Josh"

"But what about the party?"

"I'm not going"

"What? Why?"

"Because of Rachel"

"But what about this cyber guy?"

"Cyber guy?" Jackie asked as she was listening to their rant, "Is he talking about the guy who's been emailing you and sending you love notes?"

"Jackie they are nowhere near love notes"

"Nuh-uh honey that's not how it goes, he's trying to write down his feelings towards you"

"That's what I've been saying" Josh said with a small smirk.

"Awww Lily's got a secret admirer"

Lily blushed as she wiped down the counters and straightened everything out, "It's not like that"

"Well then why has he asked to meet you tonight?"

"He's asked you to meet him?" Jackie said before Lily could respond to Josh's question.

"Yeah at a party"

"Well what are you still doing here?"

"Obeying Rachel's orders before she cuts my paycheque again"

"Bu-but he could be your one true love"

"Yeah well he's gonna have to wait isn't he"

"Lily please save all the drama, whether you like it or not you are going to this dance"

"I can't okay, Rachel will kill me"

"Screw her I'll take care of it, she wont hurt you as she'll have to go through all of us" Lily sighed, feeling herself slowly giving in. She wanted to meet him so badly just to have one night of fun for a change.

"I deserve to have some fun" Lily said quietly making Jackie grin,

"See there you go girl"

"Yeah Lily you really ought to have some fun" Mandy said who was standing by, she was also a waitress and one of Lily's other close friends.

"Meet him Lily, he could be your true love and a chance to live happily ever after" Stan said from the kitchen as he looked through the window, "You've always wanted a fairytale, he could give it to you"

Lily thought about Stan's words and smiled, they were all right. MacMan could be her true love, and she was standing around in a diner letting it slip away.

"You got something to wear?" Jackie asked with a grin as she noticed that Lily had cracked and looked like she wanted to go.

"No"

"Don't worry I'll help you, come on Josh" Josh smiled as he lifted up the counter to come into the back to go to Jackie's house to fix Lily up with a costume for the night.

* * *

"Jackie I can't wear this" Lily said as she looked at herself in the mirror, completely surprised at what she saw.

"Yes you can Lily you look beautiful"

"But I can't show my face, Abi and Gail are gonna be there" Jackie thought for a moment and then rushed out of the living room to get something.

"You look beautiful," said Josh who was smiling at his friend.

Jackie had fixed Lily up in a beautiful floor length white prom dress, which flared out at the bottom. It was strapless so it showed off how slim she was and it made Lily quite self-conscious.

"You think so?" Lily eventually said as she was looking at herself in the mirror, she didn't look too bad but she was still worried about being spotted.

"I know so" Lily smiled at Josh but looked over to the door when Jackie came back.

"How about this?" she asked as she held up a white masquerade mask to cover Lily's eyes. It would be the perfect disguise along with her curled blonde hair, nobody would recognise her!

"Perfect" Josh said as Jackie helped Lily put the mask on, she didn't look at all like Lily so nobody would see her.

"You ready?" Jackie asked, "The party has just started so you better get going" Lily looked at her watch and saw it was 8:00pm, only 2 hours left before MacMan wanted to meet her.

"I'm ready" Lily said slowly as she took one last look in the mirror, if all went well… her fairytale could come true tonight finally meeting her prince charming.

* * *

"Stop freaking out Lily it's fine, and can I have my jacket back? It's freezing!" Josh said as he strolled up the steps arm in arm with Lily who had hidden herself in Josh's jacket. She was scared now and didn't think she could reveal her dress to anybody.

"I'm sorry I'm just scared"

"You shouldn't be you look amazing" Lily smiled as they gave the doorman their invitation and he let them through.

Once inside Lily was amazed by how big the place was, and they hadn't even got to the ballroom yet.

"Oh wow this is amazing" Lily said as she glanced around at all the artwork on the walls.

"You look like royalty tonight so you'll fit in just fine" Josh replied as they strolled down the corridors, finally making it to the ballroom. They stood at the top of the stairs and could see clearly that it was packed with people dancing and talking in small groups.

Lily felt her stomach churn with nerves but she turned to Josh and said "Remember I have to be back at the diner before 12 otherwise I'm dead"

"I know, give me your cell phone and I'll set the alarm" Lily lifted her dress up and took her cell off of her shoe and gave it to Josh.

He set the alarm and then gave it back to Lily and said "Right, give me the jacket"

Lily just looked at him, "Come on it's time" Lily sighed and then slowly lowered the jacket, ready to make her entrance with Josh.

* * *

Seth was wondering around the party greeting everybody and saying thank you for coming to the party. So far it had been a complete success with everybody dressed up in different costumes. Some people had dressed like the characters from Family Guy, which had amused him.

Seth currently had it all, money, fame and a successful TV show which was bringing in millions, being 26 he was one of the youngest writers in LA. But tonight none of that was making him happy. What made him happy was thinking about meeting Fairytale Girl for the first time, she'd promised she'd be there to meet him. And now he had to play the waiting game, it was heading up to 9pm so he had another hour before finally meeting her.

He'd noticed that Amy had shown up with Gail and Abi who looked ridiculous going around trying to impress everybody by wearing a conjoined mermaid outfit. Seth just shook his head but looked up when he saw one of his good friends Alec walking towards him.

"How's it going man?" Alec asked as he observed the party. "It's going good my friend"

"See you dressed up as Prince Charming"

Alec smirked and Seth just laughed, "It was the best I could come up with"

"Well you've certainly got a few women's attention" Seth smiled but was still observing the dance floor trying to spot Fairytale Girl. He didn't know what she'd dress up as, but he had a feeling it would be a fairytale character.

"You seem jittery tonight Seth are you okay?" Alec asked as he noticed that Seth seemed distracted, like he was looking for someone.

"I'm alright"

"You sure?"

"Yeah just waiting to meet someone"

"Who? Aren't you with that Amy?"

"No not anymore"

"Last I heard she was going around tonight telling people how happy you two are"

"No trust me we're over. I like… I like someone else"

"Who?"

"I don't know, it's a mystery to me right now" Alec just looked at Seth but then they both turned their attention to the grand staircase when people started making surprised gasping noises.

"What's got everybody so shocked?" Seth asked confused,

"Her" is all Alec replied as he pointed towards the stairs and then Seth saw the most beautiful girl making her way down the stairs. She was amazing, dressed in what looked like a Cinderella dress and a mask,

Seth felt it then… it was Fairytale Girl. It was the girl he'd been dying to meet for months now… she actually came to his party!

"Oh man she's beautiful," Alec said as he watched her walking down the stairs gracefully with a small smile.

"Certainly is" Seth replied quietly as he was still gazing at her.

He couldn't wait for 10pm to come now; it had to be her it just had to!

* * *

"So how do I look?" Amy asked as she spun around to show her costume off, she'd dressed as one of Charlie's angels and her other 2 best friends dressed as the other 2 angels.

"Awesome!" both Abi and Gail said at the same time getting an excited giggle from Amy in response. She thought she looked like the bell of the ball, so Seth had to talk to her now. He'd been avoiding her since their little argument in the diner, but dressed like this, he'd have a hard time keeping away.

"Hey who's this?" Abi asked as she turned around watching the staircase along with everybody else, as some girl dressed in white came down the stairs with a young man. They were both masked so they wouldn't be recognised,

"I think I recognise her from somewhere" Gail said noticing the blonde hair looked similar to Lily's, nah it couldn't be her… she was too pretty.

"Hello! Focus on me not her!" Amy said with annoyance, as everybody was still amazed at the girl walking down the stairs.

"She's amazing though," Gail said making Amy frown,

"Yeah I love her dress but I hate her, let's get back to me and Seth"

* * *

"Why are so many people staring at me?" Lily asked self consciously as they walked down the last of the stairs to step onto the dance floor.

"Because you look absolutely incredible," Josh replied as he let Lily's arm go so that they could circulate and greet people. Lily looked around and people were smiling at her continuously, she'd certainly charmed a few people… but which one was MacMan?

"Josh what time is it?" Lily asked as they walked around slowly.

"Only 9pm but we can dance and have a few drinks and it'll be 10pm before you know it" Lily nodded and smiled as Josh pulled her onto the dance floor so that they could have some fun for a while.

* * *

Seth couldn't wait any longer; he'd been watching the mysterious Cinderella girl dance all night with her friend. She was slowly opening up whilst dancing as she was smiling more and having fun.

She had to be Fairytale girl; she was dressed as Cinderella so it had to be.

"I'm gonna go take my chance now" Seth said to himself as he swallowed the last of his drink and headed towards the dance floor. It was a soft love song playing so it would be quiet enough to speak to her. So he headed through the crowd of people and smiled as he saw that she was dancing in the middle of the dance floor and her friend had walked off to get some drinks.

So she was just standing there watching everybody dance until she heard a soft voice behind her.

"Fairytale girl?"

* * *

_**Authors note:** Please Review :) xx_


	3. Chapter 3

Lily was having a good time with Josh as he was just dancing around and making her laugh. She felt herself opening up more and more until she had a smile plastered on her face; this night was going well so far. But she still wondered who and where MacMan could be.

"Lily you want a drink?" Josh asked as one of the faster songs ended and slow song came on.

"Yes please" Lily replied about to give him some money from her little purse.

"It's alright honey I got them" Josh replied making Lily smile, "I'll be back in a moment" then Josh left the dance floor to head back upstairs towards the bar area. Lily was watching all the other people dancing and some smiled at her and she smiled back, but jumped when somebody spoke behind her.

"Fairytale girl?" Lily turned around and was surprised at who she saw,

"Seth MacFarlane? You're MacMan?"

"Yeah I guess my costume didn't exactly hide it very well"

"No it's okay, but I ju- I've gotta go" Lily then tried to walk off but Seth caught her.

"What's wrong?"

"This has been a mistake"

"Why?"

"You don't or won't want to know who I am"

"Of course I know who you are, you're fairytale girl, the beautiful soft spoken, wonderful girl I speak to every night" Lily just looked up at Seth, he was a multimillionaire running a worldwide famous TV show, he was famous, popular and extremely good looking. But she was just a loser Uni student, working 7 days and nights a week down at the diner, had an evil stepmom and sisters, and was putting all her hopes and dreams on something that would probably never happen. Seth was too good for her, so now it was best to walk away and never see him again.

"You really don't wanna know me" Lily said about to walk off but Seth stopped her again,

"I do want to know you, what you've been saying over the Internet is amazing and I love talking to you"

"Come on, you're Seth MacFarlane, you run a multimillion popular worldwide cartoon, you're famous and you have a high reputation. You can't pretend that you're not famous and you especially can't afford to be seen with me"

"I may be famous yes, but that doesn't mean that I'm not a real person. I have a heart and feelings just like everybody else, and my heart found you" Lily just looked down at the floor starting to blush; he always said perfect things to make her feel better. "You wanna take a stroll outside?"

"What about your girlfriend?"

"Completely over" Lily just smiled slightly as Seth extended his hand to her and she took it, jumping slightly when she felt a fire running through her veins. His touch was soft and she smiled when he entwined his fingers with hers as he strolled up the stairs with her towards the exit so they could take a stroll outside.

* * *

"So Fairytale girl, would you tell me who you are if I guessed it right?" Seth asked as they strolled along down a pathway lit up with fairy lights. Lily had to think about that question, Seth hung out with her stepsisters and even worse, he used to date Amy so if she told him her real name he'd probably start freaking out.

"Maybe" is all Lily replied as she looked around at all the beautiful scenery, Seth had really put a lot of thought into this party.

"Well how about we play 15 questions?"

"Sounds good to me"

"Okay well lets start off with the basics, you are 22 aren't you?"

"Of course, I wouldn't lie about that"

"Okay I'm just checking, and you do go to University?"

"Yes"

"You study English and take professional writing classes?"

"Yes"

"And you've written a book?"

"Well 2 actually but the one is in the making process right now"

"What's it about?"

"A girl trapped in a life she didn't deserve"

"Sounds good"

"Oh it will be when it's finished"

"Well I'll look forward to reading it when it's published"

"I'm not sure it will be"

"Hey" Seth stopped walking and took her hands and said "Don't do that to yourself, you just gotta believe"

"I do believe"

"Doesn't sound like you do"

"Oh I do, it's just I don't really have much to believe in these days" Seth just gazed into her eyes, they were beautiful.

"You've got everything to believe in, you've got your whole life ahead of you" Lily smiled up at him and Seth just sucked in a breath, she was devastatingly beautiful.

"I swear I've seen those beautiful eyes somewhere before" Lily had to control the butterflies in her tummy, she'd seen him at the diner earlier but if she told him that, he'd realise she was nothing but a diner girl.

"Next question" Lily said as she slowly walked off leaving Seth smiling as he followed her. He caught up with her and took her hand again making her giggle slightly.

"Were you disappointed when you found out I was MacMan?"

"Nope just surprised"

"Why?"

"It's not exactly normal for a famous person to be in a University chat room"

Seth laughed a little and said "I was going to talk to Amy, but then your name sprang up and I've loved every minute of it" Lily smiled but Seth said, "So why don't you ask me some questions as well? I feel bad asking you all about your life when you don't know mine"

"Okay then, how old are you exactly?"

"I'm 27 in October"

"And you run your own TV show?"

"Well I do run 2 but yes I do"

"Which college did you go to?"

"The Rhode Island School Of Design in Providence"

"Were you born there in Providence?"

"No I was born in Kent Connecticut and lived in a very small town"

"Why'd you move to LA?"

"My short film got accepted by FOX and they wanted me to move out here to draw them a pilot episode for Family Guy"

"You drew it all by yourself?"

"Yep, every drawing, every voice etc."

"Wow, that's amazing"

"It is when I think about it, I can't believe I've come all this way"

"You should be proud, I know I am" Seth smiled but then sat down on one of the benches, pulling Lily down with him.

"So am I allowed to know your name yet?" Seth asked with a bit of pleading in his voice, she was beautiful and he wanted to know the real her.

"Not yet"

"Have I seen you before?"

"Yes"

"How could I have seen you before, and not know who you are right now?"

"Maybe you've been looking but not really seeing"

Seth smiled a little but then Lily said, "So how did you end up dating Amy?"

"Oh err, I met her one time when I was in town, she seemed nice and we took it from there" Seth could see that she looked uncomfortable so he changed the subject. "But enough about her, she's nothing. I want to hear everything about you" Lily smiled at him and Seth smiled back.

"What are your parents like?"

Lily's face dropped a little as she said, "My mom died at childbirth and my dad passed away during a house fire 10 years ago, so I live with my stepmom"

"Oh my god I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked"

"Don't worry about it, the past is the past"

Seth felt bad for asking that but then said, "Can you dance?"

"A little but I've never tried before"

"Wanna try it now?"

"That counts as a question," Seth laughed as he stood up and took Lily by the hand and led her into the gazebo he'd had decorated in flowers and candles.

"Wow this is beautiful"

"I had it made especially for you"

"How did you know I'd even come tonight?"

"With a lot of hope and belief"

Lily smiled but then said, "There's no music"

"I got that covered too" Lily laughed a little as he pointed towards a small orchestra he'd had set up to play music for them. They started playing a slow song so Seth took Lily and started to slowly dance around with her. He twirled her round and laughed with her as she got tangled up in her dress.

"I've definitely seen you before?"

"Yes" Lily replied with a small smile making Seth smile, he had to control the urge to kiss her.

"Do you feel like you made the right choice meeting me here tonight?"

"Yes I do, and do you Seth… ever wanna see me again after tonight?"

"Absolutely yes" Lily smiled again and knew she was losing herself in the moment, Seth was edging closer and she just wanted to kiss him. But just as their faces met, the alarm start beeping on her phone signalling it was almost midnight.

"Oh not now" Lily said as she looked at her phone,

"You have curfew or something?"

"Something like that, I'm so sorry, this was a perfect evening but I've gotta go"

"But where are you going?"

"I'm really late"

"For what?"

"I'm late for reality" then Lily hurried off back down the pathway and quickly into the ballroom to find Josh.

He was currently surrounded by all of the popular guys at Uni and he seemed to be having fun, but when he saw Lily hurrying towards him he checked his watch and saw it was almost midnight. So he bid everybody goodbye and quickly hurried off with Lily out of the ballroom towards the exit.

* * *

Seth watched as Fairytale girl left to head towards the ballroom, his heart screaming for him to go and chase her. He couldn't let her slip away, she made him happy and he was certainly falling for her, she was stunning! He couldn't let her get away so he quickly walked back inside the ballroom but got slowed down by some people bombarding him with questions.

Shaking them off was difficult because there were so many people, but he caught a glimpse of Fairytale girl running up the stairs towards the exit. So he managed to squeeze himself through all the people and ran up the stairs to try and stop her. But he trod on something; he looked down and saw that it was Fairytale girl's phone. He held it tightly but then carried on up the stairs to head towards the exit.

When he got outside though it was completely deserted, Fairytale girl had managed to get away from him. He sighed and then headed back inside to join the rest of his friends.

* * *

"Oh my god that was awesome!" Josh said as he headed towards his car.

"I almost kissed Seth MacFarlane!" Lily said as she got in the car and shut the door.

"So what did he say when he found out you were you?"

"He didn't say anything"

"Why?"

"Because he didn't find out"

"Lily you haven't told him?"

"No"

"Why on earth not?"

"Josh look at me! I live in an attic, I work 7 days a week at the diner, I'm a lowlife uni student and have a wicked stepmom, I'll be doing him a favour if I just disappear"

"Lily-"

"No Josh I'm serious, I saw him in the diner tonight with Amy"

"Amy was going out with Seth MacFarlane?"

"Yeah"

"Man he must be crazy" Lily just sighed as she took her mask off and threw it in the backseat,

"Josh he's probably expecting another Malibu Barbie and I can't be that"

"He likes you for who you are"

"No he likes Fairytale girl"

"But that's still you"

"Can we just go Josh? I'm gonna be killed if I'm not back"

Josh nodded and said, "Right" then he started the car and headed towards the main road to drive back to the diner before Rachel found out Lily was missing.

* * *

Abi and Gail shuffled towards the car where Rachel was waiting to pick them up, they both squeezed into the car and Rachel said, "How'd it go?"

"Awful" Gail replied as she shut the door,

"Why?"

"Some girl stole our dream man"

"Well why didn't you fight her? If you want something you get it"

"Lets just get outta here mom" Rachel started the car and pulled out of her space, but almost crashed into another on coming car. They both braked hard and Gail looked out the window and saw Lily in the next car,

"Lily!" Lily panicked and ducked so she couldn't be seen,

"Mom! Mom it's Lily she's over there!" Rachel looked but only saw a boy sitting there,

"Hi Mrs McManus" Josh said nervously and then drove off quickly down the road.

"Mom it was Lily I swear!" Gail said to Rachel who looked annoyed,

"It can't have been, Lily's working tonight and would never disobey me" Rachel frowned as she pulled out of the car park and headed down the main road to head towards the diner.

If that _was_ Lily in the car, she'd be dead meat…

* * *

"Josh hurry up come on!" Lily said panicking as she was looking around the streets for any signs of Rachel's car.

"We're almost there Lily stop panicking!" Josh said as he turned down the road for the diner, it was about 2 minutes to midnight and they needed to hurry, whilst trying not to get pulled over for speeding.

"Okay we're here now…go, go!" Josh said as they pulled into the parking lot and Lily opened the car door and ran towards the diner. She got through the back door just in time to hear another car screeching into the parking lot… it could only be Rachel.

Lily burst through the kitchen door making Jackie jump, "Oh Lily there you are!"

"No time, Rachel is here"

"Oh, quick put your t-shirt and apron on" Jackie threw the things to Lily who quickly dressed and threw some flour and cream on her face and clothes to make it look like she'd been there the whole time.

Rachel came storming into the diner with Gail and Abi who looked around and saw that Lily wasn't there, "See I told you she wasn't here!" Gail said smugly making Jackie look up,

"Rachel… what are you doing here?"

"Where's Lily?"

"What do you mean where's Lily?"

"She's supposed to be working tonight, where is she?"

"Where do you think she is?" Jackie asked nervously as Lily was still in the back room and hadn't shown herself yet, what was she doing!

"She better be here" Rachel said threateningly as she towered over Jackie who said "She's here"

"Where?"

"Order up Judy!" came Lily's voice as she rang the bell and put a big plate of food on the counter. Everybody looked at her and Jackie had to hide a smile of relief.

"Lily? Why are you back there?"

"Stan was teaching me some new cooking skills"

"Yeah she wanted to know about pancakes so whilst we were free I showed her, she's getting good" Stan said in Lily's defence making her smile, she was truly blessed with amazing friends.

"Something is right around here" Rachel said as she eyed everybody suspiciously and then glared at Lily, "You're gonna get it, come on girls lets go" Then they all turned around and exited the diner.

Jackie made sure they were gone before quickly heading into the kitchen to hug Lily, "Don't ever do that to us again!"

"I'm sorry" Lily said through laughter as Jackie leaned her back,

"How'd it go?"

"Amazing"

"Not spilling the details?"

"I will when I'm ready"

"That's fine sweetie we won't pressurise you"

"How am I gonna get home wearing this?" Lily pointed to her dress, which was covered in mud from walking around the gardens with Seth.

"Leave it here and just put your work pants on"

"And the shoes?"

"She won't notice, stop panicking sweetie it'll be okay" Lily smiled as Jackie's reassurance and then continued changing into her work clothes before heading home, if Rachel suspected a thing she'd be dead.

But at this point Lily didn't care, she'd just had one of the most magical nights of her life, she'd never forget it.


	4. Chapter 4

A couple of days had passed since the dance and Lily was just focusing on her studies. She hadn't spoken to or seen Seth since the dance but it didn't really bother her that much. It had certainly surprised Lily that it was Seth who she had been speaking too online all these months, but the butterflies in her tummy let her know that it was alright.

She wasn't mad that it was him, it felt right and he always made her feel special. He complimented her that night, he called her beautiful and that was a rarity these days. Her sisters always called her the ugly one and Rachel didn't exactly make her feel welcome in the house so she felt isolated most of the time.

Lily sighed as she sorted all of her textbooks out for Uni, her bag always felt heavy and she hated it. Taking all of these classes was really starting to get Lily frustrated, her writing classes demanded story after story, and her other classes were filled with assignments. Plus on top of that were her sister's assignments, they could never be bothered to do them so they dumped them on Lily demanding she do them.

Of course Lily would argue back, but then Rachel would get involved and punish her. It was a tough world she lived in, and now without speaking to Seth she felt lonelier than ever.

"Get a grip Lily," she said to herself as she went over to her computer to switch it off. But she noticed a new message flashing and it could only be Seth, he'd been constantly trying to get her to talk since the dance.

_"Cinderella please speak to me, or at least tell me who you are. It's driving me crazy… please?"_

Lily bit her lip when she read that message, it was so heartfelt and she knew that he must like her a lot. But she just couldn't do it, he'd freak out if he knew who she really was.

"Lily! My breakfast… now!" Lily jumped at that and then sighed, another morning being Rachel's slave, another day at Uni and then another evening at the diner, just great!

"You're lucky you haven't had that porridge poured over your head yet," Lily mumbled as she grabbed her bag and jacket and then headed out the door.

* * *

"Lily it's been 3 days since the dance" Josh said as they got out of the car to head into class.

"So" Lily said as she slammed the door shut and locked it.

"So… have you spoken to Seth since?"

"No why would I?"

"Maybe because you're his Cinderella and his new crush"

"Oh come on Josh it's not like that"

"Oh really?"

"Yes really, it's not like he's freaking out over it"

"Has he spoken to you?"

"Yeah he's tried"

"And have you replied?"

"No"

"Why?"

"I just can't"

"What's so bad about it?"

"Because he wants to know the real me"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I'm not sure"

"What's holding you back?"

"I'm a lowlife Uni student, living at home with a wicked step mom, I live in an attic and I don't have any real life dreams for my future"

"Yes you do"

"But I don't Josh that's the thing, I haven't heard from that book company in weeks, I'm putting all my hopes into that book and if it gets rejected… I'll be crushed. And then what do I do? Where do I go from there?"

"You pick yourself up and keep on writing, I've read your book and I think it's amazing"

"You do?"

"Yes, your writing is beautiful they'll love it"

"Thanks Josh"

"You're welcome, but we still haven't sorted this whole Seth issue out"

"There's lots of problems with it"

"Name two"

"Okay, he's famous worldwide, he's a millionaire, he used to date Amy, he knows my stepsisters and just everything else!"

"Oh yeah... i forgot he knows them"

"Exactly, they follow Amy around, so who knows what he's heard about me"

"Yeah that is a pickle"

"Exactly! Which is why I'm just gonna let it go and move on. He'll forget about me soon enough" Josh nodded and then continued to follow Lily through the crowds in the hallways.

But somebody stopped them and said "Hey man, take one of these"

"What is it?"

"This guy came in earlier with a bunch of fliers and asked if I could hand them out"

"Oh okay" Josh said a little surprised as he took the leaflet and watched the kid walk off.

"Oh god" He heard Lily say next to him.

"What? What?" he asked and then Lily pointed to the flier she'd been given. It was like a missing person's advert but it had a picture of Cinderella but with no face, _**"Have You Seen This Girl?"**_ it had written on the top and then had some small details along the bottom.

"Oh man" Josh said a little surprised, "Somehow I don't think he's going to forget you"

"Did that kid just say that Seth had been in here?"

"Sounded like it yeah"

"So Seth's here?"

"Yeah"

"Right now?"

"Yes"

"Oh crap"

"Why is that bad? Now you can finally go and tell him the truth"

"No I can't do that" Lily said as she crumpled the leaflet up and continued to walk with her head down.

Josh caught up with her and said "Lily he's seriously looking for you everywhere, please please tell him it was you!"

"Josh it's better to keep it is a dream, I couldn't ruin everything with reality, he'd hate me"

"Now you're lying to yourself"

"I am not lying it's true"

"Whatever" Josh said making Lily glare at him, she couldn't believe this was happening.

Seth was actually in the Uni looking for her!

"What is all that noise?" Josh said as they walked further down the corridor heading towards what sounded like, a group of girls screaming and cheering.

"I have no idea, early football excitement?" Lily suggested as they walked further ahead. There was a football match in a couple of day's time and the whole Uni was buzzed about it.

"I don't think that's what it is," Josh said as he'd managed to catch a glimpse of what was happening. It looked like Seth was still here and had a group of screaming girls following him. Lily had managed to squeeze through to the front of the crowd to see it for herself and her eyes widened when she saw Seth.

"Oh crap" she said quietly as she watched him walking down the corridors looking around at all the girls, he looked like he was desperately trying to pick out the girl he'd met at the dance, but Lily kept her head down. She messed with her blonde hair trying to get it to block her eyes but when she looked up and saw that Seth was staring in her direction.

Lily felt the butterflies in her tummy and all she could think of was _"Please don't come over, please don't come over!"_ If he saw her and recognised her she was screwed, he'd said he loved her eyes so she kept looking at the floor and not at Seth.

"Lily it's alright he's gone" she heard Josh say beside her; she looked back up and saw that Seth had walked off outside shaking his head. Looks like he'd never find his Cinderella.

"Man I can't believe he's actually here" Josh said surprised making Lily look at him,

"Wonder what Amy's doing about it"

"She can't do anything, they broke up remember?"

"She's evil and scheming, she'll come up with something"

"Lets not think about her, it's time for class"

"Okay" Lily replied and then followed Josh towards the classroom for another boring lecture. But Lily knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate with Seth in the building.

* * *

Rachel had just finished all of her errands and decided to have a rest in the living room. But just as she was about to sit down, the mail clanged through the door, one letter dropping with a big thud. Rachel sighed and then realised she'd have to go and fetch it because Lily wasn't around to do it. She could call her to get her to come home and pick it all up, but that would mean going into the kitchen and getting her cell phone… nah!

"Hmm more bills" Rachel said as she crouched down and picked up all the mail, especially the heavy one that hit the floor with a thud. She sat herself down in one of the chairs and sorted through everything.

From junk, to unpaid bills to… ahhh… what do we have here? A letter addressed to Lily, surely that wasn't right? She wasn't allowed to have mail, especially ones that are from a top writing academy.

Rachel opened the big envelope and slid out the letter and read it carefully:

_Dear Lily,_

_Congratulations! It is indeed a pleasure to tell you that your book has been accepted and will be published at the beginning of the autumn fall! It was absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed reading it, we are excited to tell you that you have definitely been accepted into our writing academy!_

_More details are enclosed to tell you more about your own studio apartment, if you have any queries please do contact us._

_Once again, congratulations and welcome aboard!_

_Charlotte Campbell_

"What!" Rachel shouted as she read the letter again and again, Lily was going to be a published writer? Since when!

"That little snake!" Rachel shrieked as she threw the letter down, now what was she supposed to do? Who was going to clean the house and do all of her dirty work? That would mean Lily would leave the diner as well!

"This won't do" Rachel said as she folded her arms and glared at the letter.

Lily could never see this!

Rachel would have to come up with something to keep her here forever, whether Lily liked it or not.


	5. Chapter 5

"Man that was a nightmare," Lily said as they were finally finished up in their class and now had a couple hours break.

"Only because you weren't concentrating" Josh replied as he sorted his book bag out.

"Yes I was"

"No you weren't, you've been so focused on Seth being in the building, you weren't even paying attention when the professor asked you a question"

"I know it was awful, that's never happened before"

"Why is it bothering you so much?"

"I don't know, just the thought of him being here"

"Want my advice?"

"Sure"

"Go and tell him the truth" Lily made a disgruntled noise as she walked off down the corridor away from Josh but he caught up with her.

"It sounds like a good idea to me Lily, it's obviously eating at you so you should just tell him and clear the air"

"But what about everything that happens after that? Once he finds out he'll hate me"

"Why?"

"He saw me in the diner the night of the dance, before it started he and Amy and everybody else came in for something to eat and drink. Obviously Abi and Gail were saying things because he was laughing when he looked at me, if he found out I'm Cinderella he'll be so embarrassed and ashamed. I couldn't have that"

Josh sighed as he pulled Lily into a hug, "I know babe, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything. I'll leave it up to you to decide"

"Thank you"

"Wanna head down to the pool area? We can ready quietly down there and talk without being disturbed"

Lily smirked and said "Is that because Andrew will be down there?"

Josh blushed and Lily laughed, "I saw you talking to him at the dance, he seemed comfortable around you"

"I was wearing a mask just like you, so he wouldn't know it was me"

"Why don't you tell him today then"

"Yeah right"

"Oh come on, you've hassled me about Seth, now its your turn"

Josh breathed in and out deeply before saying, "Fine"

"What? You'll do it? Seriously?"

"Yeah"

"Oh"

"So I can show you how it's done"

"Like a professional?" Lily asked sarcastically making Josh smile.

"Exactly" then he walked off to head towards the pool to go and find Andrew.

* * *

"Seth you're still here?" Joel asked as he watched Seth walking around handing out fliers of the girl he was currently hung up on.

"Yes I'm still here"

"Seriously why are you going through all this trouble?"

"What trouble?"

"All this trouble for just come chick"

"She's not just some chick!"

"Whoa okay Seth calm down"

"She listened to me, we had so much in common that night we met"

"Have you checked all of the yearbooks?"

"Yes"

"Still no luck?"

"No I can't seem to find her anywhere"

"You sure she comes to this Uni?"

"Yes she told me"

"What does she study?"

"She never told me"

"Wow so your connections are limited then"

"Yep, all I've got is her phone"

"But that's easy then, just go through her info"

"It's locked, I can't get into anything without a password"

"Oh"

"She keeps getting all these messages"

"Who from?"

"I don't know, they just keep coming"

"She must be popular then"

"I don't think so" Seth sighed and Joel felt bad for him but then said, "You wanna head down to the pool for a bit? Speak to Adam and Andrew?"

"Amy isn't there with the bimbo twins is she?"

"I'm not sure, but the bimbo twins are at the pool practising their routines"

"Routines?"

"Yeah they're trying to be synchronised swimmers"

Seth just shook his head and then said "Alright I'll come down to poolside"

"Good, cause I think that Adam has got a surprise for you"

* * *

"Josh, do you really think this is a good idea?" Lily asked when she looked around the pool area, it was pretty crowded with all the Uni swimming teams, she also saw Abi and Gail practising, and she almost died inside when she saw Seth arrive with Joel heading over to Adam and Andrew.

"Of course I do Lily I'm confident," Josh said as he sorted his shirt out. He really liked Andrew and he knew that he was gay, whether the other guys knew he wasn't sure. But Josh didn't care, he knew that Andrew shared a connection with him that night and he wanted to try and get him to admit his feelings.

"Even with that big crowd of girls?" Lily asked as she noticed that Joel was lining up a bunch of girls and Adam was pinning Seth down on one of the seats. Just what were they doing to him?

"Watch and learn Lily, watch and learn" Josh said before strutting over to the big gang.

"Good luck" Lily called out as she watched him head over to Andrew. She hoped everything would be alright.

* * *

"Guys are you serious?" Seth asked as he walked into the poolside area and then instantly felt like turning around when a bunch of women started screaming and calling his name out.

"Seth it was me!"

"I'm your Cinderella!"

"Choose me!"

Seth just cringed and tried to get away but Adam grabbed his arm,

"All these women said they were at the Dance with you"

"How? They weren't invited"

"We might have let it slip that you had a party and people just turned up as our guests" Joel said innocently making Seth frown, no wonder the party seemed so crowded, he'd only invited a small amount of people.

"So we're gonna introduce them to you and so you can then pick who your Cinderella is"

"This isn't going to work"

"Yes it is, we've got their info" Joel said flashing him his cards making Seth shake his head. Adam pinned Seth down on one of the chairs and Andrew was standing by in case he tried to run off. Seth wasn't enjoying this, half of these girls looked too desperate and downright ugly, they were nothing compared to _his_ beautiful Cinderella.

As Adam and Joel were reading out all of the different girls information Seth found himself getting a little frustrated. None of them matched up to the things that his Cinderella had, so this was ridiculous.

"Guys that's it! Enough!" Seth said getting up out of his chair, he then looked at the girl in front of him and said "Sweetie your beautiful, but I can never be your prince, one day you're gonna meet somebody else" the girl walked away sad and upset and all the other girls were whining.

"What's all of this? Clear the area people, this isn't a social place!" one of the professors had come outside to clear the huge crowd of girls that had formed, trying to get a hold of Seth. The crowd eventually broke up and people went their own separate ways leaving the 4 guys and Amy who was sunbathing not to far away. She had her shades on but Seth could tell she was staring at him.

"Well that didn't go to well did it" Andrew said as he slapped Seth on the back,

"It was ridiculous but thank you for trying to help"

"No problem dude, I wouldn't have picked any of them either"

"Why? Women like that should drive you young kids crazy"

"Seth you're only 4 years older than us" Seth smiled at that, but they all turned around when they heard a voice behind them.

"Andrew?" Andrew looked and saw a young punk; his name was Josh was it?

"Can I help you?" Andrew sniggered looking the young man up and down.

Josh cleared his throat and said, "I just wanted to talk to you"

"Okay shoot"

"No in private"

"Alright" Andrew cautiously walked away from the group, but they were all still looking at him in confusion.

"So what's up?" Andrew asked once they were away from the gang.

"I want to admit something to you"

"And that would be?"

"Remember that person you spoke to at that dance?"

"I spoke to lots of people that night" Andrew sniggered again but was still listening to Josh.

"Do you remember the guy in the mask wearing a suit?" Andrew looked at him surprised for a moment but then laughed,

"Oh man don't tell me that was you!" he laughed again making Josh look at him confused, "That can't have been you man! That guy was awesome! You're just a no good dork who hangs around with a lowlife diner girl"

Josh was hurt by that and watched as Andrew walked away laughing. Josh headed back over to Lily trying to ignore the giggles and sniggers from onlookers as Andrew was still laughing.

"You alright?" Lily asked when Josh walked over to her,

"He's such an asshole!" Josh said and then stomped off quickly making Lily run after him. She knew it was a bad idea from the start; Andrew had always been a dick to everybody.

Great… another problem to sort out…

* * *

When Lily got home later that day she was relieved when the house was empty. As she walked through the living room though, she saw Rachel sprawled out watching crappy soap operas.

"Did anything come in the mail for me?" Lily asked making Rachel sit up quickly and say "No of course not, you know you don't have mail"

"I was just checking that's all"

"Well you shouldn't, you know I don't allow you to have mail"

Lily sighed and was about to head upstairs when she heard Rachel shout, "Remember to get to work tonight"

"It's only a few hours and i start at 9pm"

"Nope it's all night now, you start at 6pm" Lily looked at her watch and wanted to scream, it was 5pm now! Lily mumbled and cursed as she walked up to her room and slammed the door shut before putting the 'Do Not Disturb' sign up so her stupid sisters wouldn't barge in.

She dumped her book bag down and switched her computer on. Whilst that loaded she searched her room for her work clothes, she washed them yesterday and couldn't remember where they were.

"Eugh I hate this life" she mumbled to herself as she eventually found her uniform and laid it out on the bed ready. Another night down at the diner, she really needed to get some of her assignments done, as they were due on Friday. It was getting too frustrating to think about so she plopped herself down on her computer chair and noticed her inbox flashing again. So she clicked on the bubble and the chatroom opened signalling a new recent message from Seth, he was currently flashing green meaning MacMan was online.

_"I need to know who you are Cinderella, I think about you all the time, you're so beautiful… please tell me who you are tonight?"_

Lily sighed as she read that message; he was desperate to know who she was. She'd seen him today and he looked desperate; maybe telling him the truth wouldn't be so bad after all?

"Fine, fine I'll do it" Lily said to herself as her fingers hovered over her keyboard.

_"My name is…"_

Lily felt like screaming when her door swung open, "Oi Lily!" it was Gail.

"I guess the do not disturb sign means nothing to you?" Lily replied coldly as she closed down the chatroom and then swivelled round in her chair to glare at Gail.

"Yeah you'd think it'd bother me but nope" Gail replied sweetly as she danced into Lily's room and flopped onto her bed, crushing her work uniform. "So are you finished with my assignments or what?"

"I'm working on it alright"

"Well hurry up!"

"How exactly can I do that when I'm working constantly at the diner? Thanks to Rachel"

"Keep that tone up missy and you'll get more punishments"

Lily just rolled her eyes and then said "Would that be all?"

"Yeah"

"So you know where to go don't you?" Gail frowned but then smiled evilly when she heard Rachel's voice down Lily's intercom.

"Lily! Lily get down here right now!" Lily sighed and then got up from her chair,

"You know where the door is" she said as she passed Gail and then exited her room to see what Rachel wanted now.

Once Lily was gone, Gail looked around and then her eyes fell on the computer screen when it beeped quietly.

"Hmmm what do we have here?" she said to herself as she sauntered over to the computer and sat down. "A chatroom huh?" she said as she opened up one of the conversations.

"Who is MacMan?" Gail flicked through the conversations but then found one that shocked her. 

_"Cinderella, are you not speaking to me now because you freaked when you found out I'm Seth MacFarlane?_ Oh my god! Lily was Cinderella that night?" Gail said to herself as she stared at the screen. She was speechless, so now Lily was trying to be popular and get Seth?

There were plenty of ways to make sure that didn't happen. An evil smile spread across Gail's face as she formulated a plan.

Not knowing that Abi was standing the doorway thinking the exact same thing…


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Abi and Gail had a day off from Uni and were doing their own thing. Gail was dressing herself up to go and see Seth at his workplace. She'd spoken to Amy casually about where Seth worked and she gave her the building number and where it was. She had no idea that Seth actually had his own building to make Family Guy; it was going to be amazing going to see him and surprise him at work. Plus it was a bonus that he was so close to the University and about a block away from the Diner.

She'd formulated a plan to make it look like she was his Cinderella, and then when he fell for it she could run off happily into the sunset with her dream man. It was perfect and she couldn't wait!

But little to her knowledge though, Abi was going to do the exact same thing, she'd looked up the building where Seth was and wrote down the address. Now all she needed to do was drive down there and surprise him by admitting that she was his Cinderella.

"Soon you'll be mine Seth" she said to herself and then giggled. She was excited!

* * *

"Seth, wait up!" Seth turned around and saw his good friend Mike Henry walking towards him.

"Hey man what's up?" Seth said trying to be cheerful and not show any misery in his voice. But Mike had already noticed it, he'd been miserable ever since the party.

"You alright man?"

"Fine why'd you ask?"

"You've been a bit quiet since the dance, you're not your usual self" Seth sighed as he knew he wouldn't be able to hide anything from Mike, they were best friends and told each other everything.

"Have you ever met somebody but not known who they really are?"

"Err no not really, why? You still thinking about that girl from the dance?"

"Yeah"

"Why?"

"Because Mike she was amazing! The perfect girl who I wanna be with, yet I can't find her anywhere"

"Have you spoken to her?"

"No she won't even talk to me now, I need to find her and know the truth" Mike could see the pain in Seth's eyes and he did the only thing he could think of… giving him a hug.

"You'll find her buddy don't worry okay? You'll find her"

"But when Mike? When will I find her?" Mike was about to answer but saw a small female walking towards them.

"Gail?" Seth said confused as he watched her walk towards him.

"Hi Seth!" she said cheerfully making Mike just stare at Seth.

"What err… what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you"

"How did you find out where I worked?"

"Oh I spoke to Amy about it"

"Oh"

"Hope you don't mind"

"No not really"

"You sure?"

"Yeah absolutely"

"Great"

"So… anything you want in particular?"

"No I just came to tell you something"

"Oh yeah go ahead then"

"Well I erm just came to say that, I'm the one you want Seth, I'm the Cinderella you were with at the dance"

"Excuse me?"

"You see Seth, I've liked you from the start and I knew I'd have to disguise myself in case anybody found out"

"Wait, wait a second… you're my Cinderella?"

"Yes"

"The girl I was with at the dance?"

"Yes"

"The one who walked with me round the gardens?"

"Yes"

"And we danced around under the stars?"

"Oh my god we did?" Seth looked at her funny but then she said "Oh err I mean yes we did"

Seth again just stared at her… he was completely confused, and even more confused when Abi came running from the lift and stopped where they were standing.

"You!" is all Abi said to Gail who frowned and tried to act all sweet and innocent as she said, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to get my prince"

"Your prince?"

"Yes Gail my prince"

"Well seeming as I'm Cinderella, he's _my _prince"

"No he's my prince!"

"He's mine!"

"No he's mine!" Seth just looked at both women and then at Mike who was smirking widely.

"Oh boy" is all he said and walked off laughing leaving Seth with the bickering women.

"Okay ladies that's enough!" he shouted trying to get some order back.

Abi and Gail stopped bickering and looked at him, "Now this is a little confusing to me, as I saw you two dressed up in the same mermaid costume"

"No that wasn't us Seth"

"Oh really?"

"Yes" Abi said innocently, "That wasn't us"

"Okay then, answer me this… the girl I was with at the dance ran off and dropped something as she was leaving"

"Yeah"

"What was it that she dropped?"

"Oh erm… her purse?" Gail suggested.

"She didn't have a purse" Seth replied.

"Her wallet? Abi suggested.

"No"

"Her ring?" Abi suggested before Gail could speak.

"No"

"Her earrings?"

"No" both women were getting frustrated at this and then Abi said "Oh I know, her underwear!"

Gail just looked at Abi and said "What? Her underwear? How is that possible? Idiot!"

"It was only a suggestion!"

"Well it was a stupid suggestion Abi!"

"Well excuse meee!" both of them started arguing again making Seth roll his eyes and slowly walk away to go and call security to have them removed and banned from the building.

"See look what you did! He's gone!" Gail shouted as he stamped her feet in frustration. "You always ruin things"

"I ruin things?" Abi shot back as she glared at her sister. "Yes you always ruin things for both of us, Seth is supposed to be mine!"

"No he's mine"

"He's mine!"

"I saw him first!"

"Did not"

"Did too!"

Gail then speared Abi to the floor and they started rolling around hitting each other. Seth had security come and get them to break the fight up and remove them from the building. He couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed, the two bimbos trying to convince him they were smart enough to be Cinderella?

This was getting ridiculous; maybe he should just give up the search. She was clearly not going to tell him the truth, so why should he continue fighting a losing battle?

"Cinderella what are you doing to me?"

* * *

"Girl you might as well live down here" Jackie said as Lily rolled out from the backroom to stand behind the counter.

"I know it's ridiculous" Lily replied as she sorted out a pen and paper to start taking people's orders.

"Has Rachel even given you a day off this week?"

"Nope I was supposed to have one yesterday but she got me working a night shift"

"This is stupid! You're Uni work always comes first"

"Try telling her that"

"Have you heard anymore from this writers academy?"

"Nope that a word"

"Well don't give up yet sweetie, they'll love you" Lily smiled at Jackie who smiled back. "You can knock off a couple hours tonight and go home early"

"Really?"

"Yes of course, you need to focus on your studies and by the looks of it, you need sleep"

"Yeah that's one thing I need"

"Well what else do you need?"

"To be free"

"Oh Lily"

"And to find my prince charming"

"Ooo speaking of that, how's it going with this cyber dude? You never did tell me what happened at the dance"

"I did meet him"

"You did? Lily that's wonderful!"

"Yeah it was until I found out who he was"

"And who is he?"

"Seth MacFarlane"

"Who is that?"

"He runs Family guy"

"I have no idea what that is but I'm sure it's important" Lily just laughed but then said "It was incredible"

"So why are you looking so miserable?"

"It's just, he's so popular and famous and…"

"And…"

"Jackie I'm a nobody, if he ever gets seen with me then his reputation will be ruined"

"Honey that's rubbish! If his reputation is more important than being with you then he's not worth it" Lily smiled again but then focused on serving the customers who had come up to the counter to order. Talking to Jackie always made her feel happier, she was like the mom she never had.

* * *

A couple of hours later the diner was quiet but still had a slow steady flow of customers eating in and taking out. Lily had rolled over to the jukebox to put on some songs to make her feel happy. Whenever Rachel was around, she was never allowed to touch the jukebox. Even though it was actually hers when her dad gave it to her for her birthday one year. Rachel was always being cruel to her, even in front of customers.

Once Lily had picked a few songs, she rolled back over to the counters and started to clean them. She gathered up all of the dirty dishes and glasses and put them in her bowl to wash up later. As she was cleaning though, her mind wondered and she thought of Seth. How miserable he looked by the pool yesterday, he looked so lost and it was because of her. But she couldn't tell him the truth; he'd hate her if he found out the truth. It was best to leave it all as a dream, and not ruin reality for everybody.

Lily got so lost in her own thoughts; she barely heard the door chime to signal somebody had walked into the diner. Eventually she looked up thought and saw that it was Seth, he was in the diner completely alone… oh no!

She looked around desperately trying to find another waitress to cover her but everybody was busy… just great. She watched as he sat himself down on one of the stools and looked pretty miserable. This made her heart ache for him, this was killing her as much as it was killing him but she just couldn't do it.

Lily looked over at Jackie who was on duty for the paying desk near the door, but she looked up when she saw Lily looking panicky.

"What's wrong?" she mouthed over to Lily who pointed to Seth and mouthed, "That's him!"

Jackie's eyes widened but then she said, "Talk to him"

"I can't" she mouthed back but then turned to look at Stan who was in the kitchen looking at her through the window. "Talk to him" he mouthed making Lily sigh in defeat, fine she'd talk to him.

So she rolled over to him slowly with her pen and paper and said "Hey" she had to bite her tongue from saying his name, otherwise he'd think she was a stalker.

"Can I get you something?" Seth was playing with one of the napkins before he looked up and stared into Lily's eyes. He remembered her from the night of the dance when she had to serve him and the rest of the gang.

"Lily right?" he asked making her tummy squirm with butterflies,

"Yeah"

"I'm Seth" he said with a small smile,

"I know, I saw you in here with Amy"

Seth was quiet for a while before saying, "Do you know what bugs me?" he said quite loud making Lily just look at him,

"Me taking your order?"

"No, when you find somebody and you talk to them but they're hiding the truth from you"

"Hiding the truth?" Lily squeaked out getting a bit nervous.

"Yeah, like hiding their real identity" Seth seemed a lot calmer when he realised he'd just snapped at her.

"Oh like somebody disguising themselves?"

"Exactly"

"So do you want anything while you're here?"

"Just a coffee thank you" Lily nodded and then put the pen and paper down and watched as Seth took it and started doodling on the paper. Lily smiled as she put a cup on the counter and poured him some hot coffee. Then she put it back on the warmer and watched him as he doodled some more things on the note pad.

"Maybe the person you're talking about, is afraid to show who they really are" Lily said making Seth look at her,

"Yeah maybe that's it"

"Is it a girl you're on about?"

"Yep, the most beautiful girl I've ever met"

"Maybe she thinks being herself isn't good enough"

"Yeah"

"Like she's hiding behind a mask"

"That's exactly it"

"You just want her to be honest and say it's me, I'm the one that you've been searching around for" Seth just looked at her, understanding completely what she was saying,

"Seth… I need to tell you that I'm-" she got cut off when she heard the one voice she despised.

"Lily!" Lily turned and looked at Rachel and said "Just one second"

"No now! I need you"

Lily just sighed and looked back at Seth when he finished his coffee and said "It's all right, I've gotta head off now anyway" he got up from his stool and got out his wallet and paid for his drink.

Then he smiled at Lily and said "Thank you Lily" then he walked off out of the diner.

"You're welcome" is all Lily mumbled as she cleaned the counter where his cup was.

She was so close telling him the truth! Eugh she hated Rachel!


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Gail asked Abi as they walked down the corridor to head outside for their lunch break. Abi had sent a message to Amy telling her to meet her by the pool as she had some important information about Seth.

"Relax sis it's gonna be great" Abi said excitedly as they walked outside towards the pool. Gail was carrying the folder filled with Lily's emails to Seth from the chatroom. They'd hacked into her computer whilst she was at work and formulated a plan together to get Lily back for stealing Seth.

They'd made up since their little fallout yesterday and came up with a good plan to humiliate Lily. Now all they needed was Amy and the cheerleading squad and they were good to go.

"Do you see her?" Gail asked as they looked around for Amy,

"She should be here" Abi replied also glancing around the pool area.

"How do you know?"

"When it comes to Seth, she'll be here"

"Ooo there she is!" Gail pointed to where Amy was sitting with her cheerleader friends.

"Hey sisters!" Gail said cheerfully as Amy looked up and saw them.

"Girls" she said curtly as they sat down on the two empty chairs. "So you've got some news for me about Seth?"

"Yeah we have"

"So spill it Abi"

"We were speaking to our sister yesterday and she mentioned Seth a lot"

"What about him?"

"That she was completely in love with him"

"What?"

"And that she wanted to steal him away from you, she said it was the one thing she's always wanted to do"

"Our sister has always been so jealous of you" Gail added in making Amy frown.

"And then what?"

"She started this whole Cinderella plot thingy"

"Cinderella?" Amy spat out with disgust, "She was Cinderella that night?"

"Yes, she somehow got a hold of Seth's email address"

"I'm the only one who has that!" Amy said hotly.

"Well she got hold of it and that's where it all began"

"By doing what?"

"Emailing him everyday, stalking him and even finding out where he worked"

"Oh"

"We wanted to tell you sooner Amy, but she's so evil she… she threatened to beat us up every night"

Amy just raised her eyebrow and then Abi said "Look if you don't believe us then look at all of these" then she put the folder on the table and Amy opened it and was surprised at all the pages of emails Seth had written.

"She goes by the name of Fairytale Girl but her real name is Lily McManus"

"Lily? That loser who works down at the diner?"

"Yeah"

"Eugh that little pathetic boyfriend stealer!" Amy said angrily "I should go and speak to her right now!"

Amy rose from the table but Gail said, "Wait! We've got a plan"

"What plan?" Amy asked sitting herself back down at the table.

"We came up with a brilliant plan to humiliate Lily"

"Go on"

"First all of, we need to be on the cheerleading squad"

"Done"

"Okay that's good, you know the football game coming up later tonight?"

"Yes we're cheering"

"Well we were thinking of making an invitation for Seth from Fairytale Girl telling him to meet her there"

"Go on"

"And then when he gets there, we expose who Fairytale girl really is, completely humiliating Lily and getting Seth back with you" Amy sat there listening to their plan liking it more and more.

"How do we humiliate her though?"

Gail and Abi smirked at each other and said, "We have a way"

* * *

"Come on Lily! The game is due to start" Josh said as he paced back and forth outside the ladies toilets.

"Sorry I'm finished now" Lily called back and then appeared in the doorway looking nervous.

"Why are you so nervous?"

"You know I hate football games, which is why I never agree to come to them"

"So why'd you agree to come tonight then?"

"Because it's my first night off in a week and I wanted to do something fun with my best friend"

"Good enough reason I'll accept that" Lily laughed as Josh pulled her along through the crowds to get a seat in the stands. University games always got crowded which showed just how much team spirit the Uni had.

"Doesn't it feel great to be apart of this!" Josh called over all the noise of the other people.

"Yeah, great!" Lily called back sarcastically. She didn't like big crowds much, but she just thought she'd do something different and try to enjoy it.

* * *

"Do you really think she's here?" Seth asked Mike as they shuffled along the stands trying to get a seat.

"I don't know man" Mike replied to Seth's question.

"Well I got her invitation so she must want to meet me properly"

"Let's just wait and see" Mike replied as they sat down in an empty spot and looked around at the massive crowds who had flocked to see the game. Seth was on full alert and was looking around at any girl to see if she was his Cinderella.

"Seth calm down" Mike said noticing how jittery and alert Seth was. "Just relax and try to enjoy the game"

"Sorry man I'll try" Seth then looked over at the pitch where he saw all the cheerleaders running around doing their little routine to get the crowd going crazy.

* * *

"Okay girls this is it" Amy said excitedly as all the girls were in a tent they'd had set up so they could hide all their props and everything.

"You ready?" she asked Abi and Gail who had dressed up as prince charming and Cinderella.

"Ready!" they both said together causing Amy to smile evilly. She had her notes in her hand and was ready to get out there with the other girls after the coach had told the crowd that the cheerleaders had put together a story.

"Is it time?" Abi asked as she adjusted her dress making Amy nod,

"Yep coach has just announced it, come on girls!" Amy shouted as the cheerleaders jumped about and then exited the tent to run out onto the pitch. The whole crowd applauded them as they danced around before getting onto the makeshift stage they'd put together.

Amy stood in front of the microphone and cleared her throat when the crowd died down. "Thank you for that, we've just put together a little story for you to enjoy" the crowd applauded and then Amy began her story.

"Once upon a time there was a man called prince charming, he was tall and beautiful, he had a beautiful popular girlfriend, he owned his own TV show and had everything he wanted… yet that didn't make him happy" she stopped as the crowd went "Awww" in time together making Amy smile.

Gail was acting out the story on the stage making some of the crowd laugh. "If only he could find his real Cinderella, then they could run away together, be free, be happy and live happily ever after" the crowd laughed again as some of the cheerleaders carried out Abi dressed as Cinderella in a white puffy dress with a blonde wig on.

Amy looked into the stands and saw both Seth and Lily looking shocked, great… it was working!

* * *

"This isn't good" Josh said as he was listening to the story Amy was telling on stage.

"What are they doing here?" Lily asked as she saw both Abi and Gail on stage. This was worrying her. But she listened when Amy continued her story after Abi flashed her panties to the crowd getting them to cheer louder.

"But one night, after prince charming ditched his super hot, perfect, amazing popular girlfriend. He met his princess" Gail bowed to Abi who flashed her underwear again getting the crowd to cheer and laugh louder.

"Whilst he was with his old girlfriend though, he'd been hiding behind another identity and had a secret pen pal relationship in a chatroom with Fairytale Girl" the crowd gasped in surprise and Lily's eyes widened.

Oh no… this cannot be happening.

_"Dear Fairytale Girl"_ Gail said down her microphone pretending to be Prince charming. _"I can't wait to meet you, you sound so beautiful and your words inspire me to be myself, you understand me and treat me like a normal human being. I want to meet you, you make me crazy"_

_"Dear MacMan"_ Abi said as Cinderella, _"I really want to tell you who I am but I'm so frightened! I'm frightened of losing you if I tell you the truth, I've never had a relationship before and I'm scared you'll reject me because I'm so inexperienced"_

_"I don't care how inexperienced you are Fairytale Girl I'll teach you"_

_"But I've never had a real kiss before, I'm so scared"_

_"We'll be together Fairytale Girl I know it"_

The crowd was laughing pretty hard with the comments Abi and Gail were saying, but this was tearing Lily apart. They were reading her personal emails and exposing her to Seth.

"They're reading my emails Josh," she said tearfully as he squeezed her hand.

"Lily lets get out of here" Lily just looked at Amy when she spoke again.

"But our princess had a secret too, she wasn't royalty, she was far from it. She was nothing, a complete waste of space, a loser, a dork, a serve it girl" Amy looked at Lily when she said that and Lily could feel the tears burning down her cheeks.

The crowd was laughing hard when Abi rolled out from the curtain, wobbling around and then eventually falling into a big pile of cream the other cheerleaders were holding.

The whole crowd roared with approval of that making Amy laugh too as she saw the hurt on both Lily and Seth's face.

"Do you all want to know who this impostor person is?" Amy called to the crowd making them cheer louder than before.

"Okay then, give it up for the pretend Cinderella, the complete and utter loser diner girl, Lily McManus!" the whole crowd gasped and turned to look at Lily and then they all started laughing.

_"Diner girl!"_ chants getting louder and louder in her ears. The crowd parted slightly and then Lily saw Seth and her heart shattered there and then. He was looking at her with disgust and hatred in his eyes; she knew he'd hate her.

"Lily come on," Josh said grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the stands and onto the grass. Lily ran off crying with Josh following behind her, chants of _"Diner Girl"_ still ringing in her ears.

* * *

Seth just sat in the stands feeling completely shook up. The things he'd just witnessed turned his world upside down. Lily was Cinderella? All this time he'd been around her and not once realised she was his dream girl. She was a diner girl and he'd spoken to her that night when he was talking about hiding behind a mask.

It all made sense now! She was a serve it girl and a total loser from what Abi and Gail had said. They always bitched about their sister, not once saying that it was Lily.

Seth didn't know whether to feel angry, embarrassed or upset at this point. But he could certainly feel his pride and reputation slipping away, if the press hear about this he'd be screwed. He turned around in his seat and saw Lily in floods of tears being pulled away by her friend Josh. He wanted to run after her but his feet stayed glued to the spot.

He couldn't do it, he felt too hurt to go and chase her. Amy was certainly one evil bitch; he looked up at her on stage and saw her smiling from ear to ear.

She'd definitely humiliated Lily and broke Seth's heart all in one night; he hoped she was proud of herself.

* * *

Josh dropped Lily back at her house and she automatically went inside to cry. She didn't mean to ignore Josh but she was heartbroken, embarrassed and needed to be alone.

She ran up the stairs crying ignoring Rachel who was sitting on the couch watching TV. She'd noticed Lily was upset and now was the perfect time to give her the rejection letter she'd made from the Writing academy.

Lily just flopped onto her bed and cried, everything had fallen to pieces and now Seth hated her. The whole University would be talking about this for weeks, she already struggled to fit in and now this had made it worse.

She cried into her pillow but shouted; "Go away!" when somebody knocked on her bedroom door.

"Lily honey, you've got a letter here from some writers academy," Rachel said as she pushed the door open and sat herself down on Lily's bed. Lily quickly opened the letter excited that she could be accepted into the academy.

But when she read it thought, her heart sank and then shattered… she'd been rejected.

"Well what does it say?" Rachel said pretending to be happy but inside she was laughing evilly.

"I didn't get in" Lily squeaked out as more tears surfaced.

"Oh no" Rachel said acting surprised and hurt, "Oh Lily I'm heartbroken for you"

"I can't believe I thought I would get in," Lily mumbled to herself letting the fresh tears fall.

"Well there is a plus side" Rachel said cheerfully making Lily just look at her puzzled, "You have a job as diner girl for the rest of your life" then Rachel got up off the bed and exited Lily's room leaving her heartbroken.

All of her dreams had just been shattered and she didn't have anybody to comfort her. It was times like these where she wanted her daddy, to hug him tightly and for him to tell her everything was gonna be alright.

But all because of Rachel and her stupid stepsisters, he got taken away!

Lily scooted off the bed and sat on the floor, she wiped all of her tears away and then lifted the covers of her bed up revealing a black suitcase. It had everything in it, which she managed to save from the house fire all those years ago. She opened it and looked inside and felt new tears forming, she wanted her dad back but all she had was old pictures and the memories.

She lifted up the picture of her dad when he was smiling and laughing as they played baseball. She touched his face and sighed out of sadness. Then she saw the fairytale book her dad used to read from every night to help get her to sleep. He always picked out a story and made it sound so real with the voices and some of the character movements.

He always told Lily to believe in her dreams to sometimes escape reality when times get tough. Lily was always encouraged to chase her dreams and that's what she had done. But right now she had come to a complete halt with her dreams crumbling around her. Her dad had always said he could see her finding her prince charming and building her own castle to live happily ever after.

But right now all Lily could see was fog, her future seemed like a blur and that angered her. Her dad always said things would be easy but now she felt like he had lied.

The whole fairytale book was a lie; he'd lied completely! Lily threw the book across the room in frustration and then curled up on the floor to cry once more.


	8. Chapter 8

2 days later Lily was still feeling a little sad, she'd spoken to Josh and he'd tried to comfort her but nothing was working. She'd lost all of her dreams in one night and had heart torn to pieces. And was now trying to find all of the pieces that had been scattered around by Amy, to put them all back together to try to make things right.

Amy had truly sunk her claws in and destroyed Lily's hopes and dreams.

She'd thought about Seth over the last 2 days but she knew he wouldn't be thinking of her. The look of hatred he gave her said it all; he was ashamed and embarrassed. But he probably wasn't getting any trouble like she was, whenever she walked down the corridors at Uni people sniggered and said comments behind her back. She was this month's gossip and so many rumours were flying around it was awful.

Lily always kept her head down whilst walking to classes but was always spotted by somebody and they always made a comment. She was living in a nightmare not a fairytale... and couldn't find any way out.

* * *

Seth was sat in his office feeling miserable; it had been 2 days since the Uni football game where his world fell apart. He hadn't spoken to anybody since then, as he either got angry or just couldn't speak. He hadn't got a clue how to feel about all of this, finding out that the one girl he truly cared about was nothing more than a diner girl completely threw him off track. He thought he knew where his life was going, finding a great girl and living happily ever after.

But now everything was just messed up.

He'd seen Lily a few times since the incident and she looked so lost and fragile wherever she went. Going to the university to see his friends was always his favourite thing to do during the day, but because they hung around with Amy as well, he tried to keep away. But Amy seemed to be popping up out of nowhere whenever Seth was around.

Always saying, _"People like Lily don't belong in our world Seth, you belong with me not her"_ and it always pissed him off. Amy was never meant for Seth and he was going to do everything possible to get her to see that.

He didn't know who or what he wanted… so why was he currently staring at Lily's chatroom profile? He wanted to send her a message but all he could come up with was _"Dear Lily"_ and then he'd get stuck for words.

It was getting ridiculous and Seth just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.

* * *

Another long boring night at the diner was in store for Lily tonight, and she wasn't looking forward to it. Since having two days off to recover from the events that had happened, Rachel made her work extra hard to make up for the loss of a waitress. But all she'd done is scrub the floors and wash all the plates up in the back.

It was a cruel life but Lily was just trying to keep her chin up… it's all she could do.

"Lily? Lily what are you doing?" Jackie asked when she saw Lily on her hands and knees scrubbing the floors.

"Getting these floors clean" she replied quietly making Jackie put her tray of food down to reach out to pull Lily up on her feet.

"Lily get up," Jackie said as she watched Lily pull her roller skates up and then stand to her full height. "What are you doing with your life?"

That question made Lily quite angry, "I'm diner girl Jackie, a complete loser doing what diners girls do best. Scrubbing the floors obeying orders from her evil stepmom"

"Sweetie what's gotten into you lately? These past two days you've been so different, what's wrong?"

"I'm just a no good loser Jackie"

"Baby don't say that, you're blessed with a big family down here who love and support you"

"But-"

"We believe in your dreams, the problem is, is that you don't believe in them"

Lily sighed and then looked up at Jackie and suddenly felt like crying. Jackie understood her more than anybody else did, so it was easy to break down and cry in front of her, knowing she'd get love and support.

"We've always believed in you honey" Stan said making Lily look at him and give him a small smile. All of the other waitresses agreed with him making Lily smile even wider.

"See there you go" Jackie said noticing Lily's smile. But she looked over to the door when it banged open and in came Abi and Gail on their cell phones. They didn't have any consideration for people around them and then disturbed some people when they slammed the door shut.

This made the whole wall shake causing a lot of stuff to fall off it, including some of Rachel's ridiculous ornaments she'd stuck on there. But one ornament, which fell off, revealed something that made Lily gasp in surprise. Her dad had painted all kinds of different things on the walls when the diner belonged to him; his famous quotations were still used today by some people.

And the one that Lily loved the most was staring her in the face right now _"Never give up, never give in and always follow your heart" _

Lily is still standing there open mouthed as Rachel comes storming into the diner to stand behind Abi and Gail. "Mother look! Lily just completely ruined your wall" Abi said smugly as she looked at Lily.

"Oh my, look what you've done Lily! You've broken my favourite ornaments!" Rachel shrieked as she saw all of the broken glass on the floor. "That's coming out of your paycheque missy, teach you not to do that again," Rachel said as she opened the cash register and took all of the money out.

"Right that's me sorted, Lily cover up those ridiculous words and then clean all of this mess up" Rachel said as she came from behind the counter and stood by Abi and Gail. "Oh and I need you to clean the house again, wash the cars, do my laundry and clean up the garden"

Rachel then turned to walk out the door but Lily said "No"

This shocked quite a few people, including Rachel who stopped walking and turned around,

"Excuse me?"

"You Heard me"

"No I don't think I did hear you correctly"

"I'm not doing anything for you anywhere, I quit, I quit everything"

"You quit?" Rachel asked with amusement making Lily frown,

"You can laugh about it all you want but yes I do quit, I quit this ridiculous job, I'm leaving the family so you can live in a dump and I'm moving out as well"

"You're moving out? Pfft where you gonna live then?"

Lily hadn't thought that part through yet but was relieved when Jackie said "She's living with me now"

"You're not walking out on me"

"You've messed everything up since my dad died, you can mess with your hair, your ugly face and even wear those hideous clothes, but you're not messing with me anymore and I mean that" then Lily walked past Rachel but stopped when Jackie said "Hold on a minute Lily"

"You're not going anywhere either" Rachel snarled to Jackie who said "Oh yes I am because I quit too, I've hated how you've run this place and I hate how you've been treating Lily, I can't put up with you any longer and I'm ready and willing to kick your fat ass right now"

Jackie then started to take all of her jewellery off but Lily said "Jackie don't bother, she's just not worth it" Jackie listened to Lily and then walked past Rachel and headed out the diner. All of the other staff and customers following behind them, leaving Rachel, Abi and Gail completely stunned.

* * *

"I'm so proud of you Lily" Jackie said as she was sitting with Lily in the living room. Since quitting the diner both Jackie and Lily went back to the house so Lily could pack up some belongings to stay with Jackie. She'd stay there until she could find her own apartment and then leave Jackie in peace.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay here?" Lily asked as she played with the zip on one of the couch cushions.

"Of course it is Lily I love having you here, better than staying with the wicked witch"

Lily smiled and said "Thank you"

"No problem sweetie" Lily smiled again but then heard the doorbell ring so Jackie got up to answer the door. Coming back in the living room a short while later with Josh.

"Josh!" Lily said happily as she got up off the couch to hug her best friend.

"Lily I'm so proud of you!" Josh said as he lifted Lily off the floor and swung her round making her laugh. "You did it you finally did it!"

"I know it felt amazing!" Lily said as she let go of Josh and stood in front of him.

"You're free from the wicked witch" Lily smiled happily but then Josh said; "Now we only have one more problem to sort out"

"What problem?"

"Seth"

"What about him?" Lily said frowning when Josh was holding an envelope, "What's that?" she pointed to the envelope in Josh's hands.

Josh opened it and said "Seth sent me two tickets and backstage passes for a live Family Guy table read for tomorrow night"

"What?" Lily said completely surprised.

"Yeah he sent me them in the mail"

"Is that all he sent?"

"Yep"

"How does he know I'll come?"

"Because you've got a very persuasive best friend who will beg you until you give in" Lily smiled a little but was still surprised. Seth had obviously been thinking about her all this time.

"I see a small smile, does that mean you want to come?" Josh asked with a small smirk when he saw Lily smiling to herself.

"I think it's a good idea" Jackie chimed in making Lily look at her.

"You think it is?"

"Yes Lily I do, I knew something was wrong and I had a feeling Seth was the main problem so whatever has happened, you should sort it"

Lily sighed in defeat and said "Alright I'll go"

"Really? You'll come with me tomorrow?"

"Yes, where is it exactly?"

"Down at the old theatre at 7pm"

"Okay then"

"I'm glad you're coming Lily"

Josh hugged Lily again before she said "Right I'm heading to bed, night guys" Lily hugged Jackie and then exited the room to head to bed.

* * *

When Josh was sure that Lily had gone to bed, he looked straight at Jackie and said, "We have a problem"

Jackie was surprised and said "What?" Josh gave her the letter that Seth had written to him, which was with the tickets and passes.

_Dear Josh,_

_I know we don't really know each other very well, in fact we don't know each other at all. But you're Lily's best friend and I need you to do something for me. These past couple of days I've done some thinking and I've realised that I am in love with Lily. I love her more than any other women in the world and am thinking of asking for her hand in marriage. _

_I know it's strange but I thought I'd ask you for your blessing seeming as Lily has no father and her stepmother is evil. You're everything she has so it's up to you whether I can do this or not. _

_I'm not pressuring you but I would really like you to think about this and let me know what your answer is. I've enclosed two tickets and backstage passes for you for the live Family Guy show tomorrow night at the old Theatre downtown. It starts at 7pm but I would like to speak to you and Jackie I think her name is? About planning the perfect surprise marriage proposal for Lily. I'm thinking down at the diner, but I need some more help with this. _

_My number is at the bottom of the letter so you can ring me anytime you lile._

_Please get back to me on this, and I'm sorry for any trouble that was caused at that football game. I was just surprised that's all, but it gave me the kick up the ass I've needed in a long time to come to my senses. I want my beautiful Cinderella so we can live out her dreams and live happily ever after._

_Take care,_

_Seth MacFarlane_

"Oh my" is all Jackie could say as she re-read the letter over and over again. Seth actually loved Lily? And he wanted to marry her? Wow he must be serious.

"I know! It shocked the hell out of me when I got it this morning" Josh said as he flopped down on the couch next to Jackie.

"He wants to propose at the diner?"

"Well it's the place that Lily loves" Josh replied.

"Yes but we had to close it down temporarily because everybody quit"

"Oh"

"So now what do we do?"

"Wait I got it!"

"What?"

"Well it's perfect, the diner is shut for customers right?"

"Yeah staff can still go down there if we want to"

"So it's perfect for Seth's marriage proposal"

"How?"

"It'll be empty and he can decorate it any way he wants to, he could cover it in rose petals and candles and no customers would get in the way!"

Jackie soon grinned and said, "That's a wonderful idea! We need to let him know as soon as possible"

Josh nodded and then said, "Would you like to speak to him?"

"Nah it's better if you do"

"We need to get everything sorted"

"This is so exciting, I need to buy loads of candles and rose petals"

"Can you get that tomorrow?"

"Of course Josh I'm without a job right now so I'm free" Josh grinned as he dialled Seth's mobile number, waiting for him to pick up.

_"Hello Seth MacFarlane speaking"_ Came a deep voice snapping Josh out of his daze,

"Hey Seth its Josh here"

_"Josh? Oh yeah Lily's best friend, how are you?"_

"I'm good thanks how are you?"

_"I'm wonderful thanks"_

"Well that's good, listen I'm just calling you about your letter"

_"So you got it then?"_ Josh smiled as he heard the happiness in Seth's voice.

"Yeah I've got it in my hand right now"

_"So what do you think?"_

"I think that… it's a great idea!"

_"You do?"_

"Yes I think it's perfect, she'll love it"

_"Does Jackie agree?"_

"Yes she's sat right next to me"

_"Perfect, now I can speak to both of you about how to plan all this"_

"Well we were thinking of you decorating the diner with candles and rose petals"

_"Won't there be customers?"_

"No the diner's temporarily closed right now"

_"Why?"_

"Long story involving Lily standing up to her stepmom"

_"Oh wow she finally did something about it?"_

"Yep"

_"That's wonderful news"_

"I know we were pleased with it too. Anyway yeah the diner's free now so you can propose there tomorrow"

_"Sounds like a plan"_

"But how exactly are you going to do this when Lily still won't speak to you?"

_"I'm not sure but I'm hoping everything just falls into place on it's own"_

"I'm hoping that too buddy"

_"Thank you for agreeing with me"_

"It's alright"

_"And I definitely have yours and Jackie's blessing?"_

"Yep absolutely"

_"Excellent"_

"Anyway I'll let you go now Seth, I'm sure you're busy"

_"Alright, it was nice speaking to you"_

"Yeah you too"

_"Alright take it easy Josh"_

"Later Seth"

_"Later"_ Josh hung up the phone and then turned to Jackie who was grinning widely.

"Looks like we've got a lot of planning to do"


	9. Chapter 9

"Are you sure that's the time?" Lily asked as she looked at Josh's watch seeing it was 6pm. The show started at 7pm and they needed to get a move on if they wanted to get backstage to meet and greet the cast.

"It sure is Lily"

"Man it doesn't feel like 6pm, we were only playing baseball an hour ago!" Josh laughed and watched as Lily fiddled with her dress.

"Why'd you make me dress up?" Lily whined as she fidgeted around in the dress.

"Because we're going to a theatre and the dress code did say formal wear" Lily just grumbled something that went unheard and Josh smiled.

"Quit moping you look beautiful" Lily smiled at that and then looked at herself in the mirror. Jackie had helped her pick out a dress in the shops and it was amazing, a knee-high white prom dress with black little flowers on is what she picked out. It complimented her tanned skin and showed off her slim figure. She'd also had her hair curled with the help of Jackie and was held in place by a white ribbon.

She looked completely different to the Lily she knew but she actually felt happier.

"You ready to go?" Josh asked her as he grinned to himself, this was going to be a night Lily would never forget.

"Yep let's go" Lily said slipping on her white sandals and heading out the door with Josh.

* * *

Seth was pacing back and forth back and forth back and forth in his dressing room trying to calm his nerves. He was excited about the show tonight, but proposing to Lily was starting to scare him.

What if she said no? What if his plan failed? He couldn't live with himself if she said no. The ring he'd picked out earlier today was currently in a black box in his blazer pocket. He'd made everybody dress in formal and smart wear tonight, so everybody was in suits and dresses.

But everybody he spoke to seemed happy, but he was just a nervous wreck!

"Focus Seth just focus" he said to himself before taking some deep breaths to calm his stomach. It wouldn't be good if he was sick on stage… granted it'd be funny… but he'd be embarrassed. He had to focus otherwise he was screwed.

* * *

Josh and Lily arrived at the theatre and showed the security guard their tickets, and when he heard Lily's name he instantly whisked her away to be taken to Seth. She was actually glad of this because she could finally give him a piece of her mind. It had been brewing inside of her since the football game incident and now she wanted to get her point across.

"Seth is just down here ma'am," the security guard said as he guided her down the corridor to Seth's dressing room.

"Thank you" is all she said with a small smile as the security guard walked off. She then opened the door and looked inside, the room was busy with cast members warming up their voices but she ignored them. She soon found Seth in the corner of the room sitting on one of the couches, warming up his voice. But he stopped when he saw Lily standing in front of him with her arms folded.

"Lily, look I know you think I'm just some-"

"Coward? A complete phoney with an ego and pride problem?"

"Okay just listen"

"No you listen, you turned out to be exactly what I feared, a big celebrity with a huge ego and afraid of his pride being torn apart. I've never pretended to be someone else, It's been me all along writing those emails, and it was me who was hurt in front of everybody during that football game"

Seth remained quiet but was still listening to her. "Seth not everything in this life has to be perfect, just because you're a celebrity you don't have to have a perfect celebrity girlfriend. I know it's hard to show people who you truly are and not listen to their criticism, but I've been trying to tell you since we first started speaking that it doesn't matter, you are who you are and that's that. I don't really care what people think about me now, even though it hurt, that stunt pulled at the football game made me stronger inside, to block it out and focus on me. Focus on picking up the pieces and moving forward, but even though I have no family, hardly any money and no job or future, it's still you that I feel sorry for, for caring so much about your damn pride and what other's think of you"

Seth just looked at her, "I can't wait around for you Seth, I cant wait around for you to figure all this out as it would take a miracle for that to happen. I'll always love and remember the Seth who wrote those emails; at least he didn't care about his pride getting destroyed. MacMan stole my heart, Seth MacFarlane just walked all over it and destroyed it" then Lily left the room a little teary eyed to go and find Josh leaving Seth quite upset.

* * *

"Lily, why so angry?" Josh asked as he met up with Lily in the corridor so they could head into the theatre to find their seats. Seth had given them front row tickets, which made Lily feel uncomfortable, as he'd be able to see her clearly.

"Sorry Josh, just have a lot on my mind" Lily replied as she looked around the dimly lit building. There was a stage set up with chairs and microphones for the cast to sit at whilst reading.

"I told you not to worry didn't I?" Josh said as he squeezed Lily's hand making her smile. If she was angry and stormed off, it'd ruin the plan for Seth.

Once the table read was over, the cast would leave the stage quickly so Seth could make a quick getaway to head to the diner. Jackie had spent all night decorating it so it was perfect for when Seth arrived. Josh had to contain his excitement all night making Lily confused as to why he was so giddy.

"I'm trying Josh I really am" Lily mumbled as they eventually found their seats. She was still mad at Seth for how he reacted to the football game incident, looking at her with hate filled eyes. She hated that he always cared what other's thought of him, he was a big celebrity yes, but that didn't mean he had to listen to criticism and read what others had wrote about him, They were just words, they didn't mean anything. Lily always told him that every night whenever he told her somebody had written an article about him, but he never listened.

So why should she bother anymore? He obviously wasn't the prince charming she thought he was, he was too interested in himself. That type of person surely didn't deserve her love. She couldn't deny it anymore, she did love and care about him. Ever since she first met him at the dance she knew he was her true love, but would he feel the same?

* * *

Throughout the whole show everybody was laughing and having a good time. The cast on stage were entertaining the crowd with music, laughter and a lot of jokes. Lily felt herself relaxing a little bit as she watched the whole cast work their magic and make the characters on paper come to life. It was incredible to watch and they did get Lily to laugh a few times.

The only thing that made her feel slightly uneasy was that Seth was looking at her whenever he wasn't reading any lines. He'd pretend to glance around the audience but then his eyes would always fall back onto her.

Once the table read was over, the crowd gave the cast a standing ovation. Everybody was cheering loudly asking for more and chanting out Seth's name. Lily watched as he sat on the stage with his cheeks burning red and his grin spreading wider. He was eating it all up and this made Lily frown. Did he not hear what she just said? She was right; he did have a serious ego problem.

"Josh I can't handle this i'm leaving" Lily said over the noise of the crowd making Josh stare at her wide eyed.

She was leaving now? Oh crap the plan would be ruined!

"Are you sure?"

"I thought I could enjoy it but I can't, his ego is too big and he loves the attention he's getting. That's not the Seth that I know"

Josh just looked at Lily with sympathetic eyes and said "Alright, want me to walk you home?"

"No you stay and enjoy it, I'll be alright" Lily quickly hugged him before getting up from her seat and heading towards the exit.

Josh just looked up at Seth with panic written all over his face.

* * *

Seth was enjoying himself throughout the whole table read. Everybody seemed to be having a good time and laughing at all the jokes in the script. He'd noticed that Lily had stuck around and watched the show with Josh and that made him happy. Even though what she'd said backstage was completely true, he wasn't angry with her.

It made him realise just how much he loved her and how independent she was. A smile crossed his lips every time he glanced at her in the audience, but she always looked at him with disappointed eyes. Whenever the crowd cheered he always smiled making Lily think he loved the attention. This did worry him slightly, because if she did hate him then his plan would be flushed down the toilet.

It was when the crowd gave the cast a standing ovation for the table read, he noticed Lily frowning deeply. Everybody was chanting his name wanting more and more from him, pushing Lily further and further away. When she got out of her seat after hugging Josh goodbye, his face dropped and the sound of the crowd faded away.

He didn't care about them anymore, Lily was leaving the building, and she was running away from him again.

He couldn't let that happen!

So he did the only thing he could think of, getting up from his chair and quickly walking off stage. He didn't care if the fans were booing and shouting things, he couldn't let Lily slip away from him again. After grabbing his jacket from his dressing room and making sure the little black box was secure in his pocket, he made a run for the exits to try and get to the diner before Lily did.

* * *

Once Lily had left the theatre she felt much better, the cool night air filling up her lungs and making her smile. She felt refreshed after being in that stuffy room with all those people. They were horrible, just eating up Seth's words and wanting more and more.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Lily then started walking down the road to head towards home… but it wasn't really home, it was just Jackie's house. She was happy that Jackie had given her a place to stay, but she could never call it home. She didn't have a home anymore, not since Rachel came along. She destroyed everything and took away Lily's childhood memories of her dad.

The one man she truly loved and she missed him dearly. The only place she could think of to go to was the diner, her dad was forever a part of the diner even though Rachel had re-decorated it, her dad's memory still lived on. So Lily headed down the road to head towards the diner, first making a quick pit stop at a local convenience store to get a drink. After being in that stuffy theatre she really needed a drink, so she brought one and then slowly walked down the street to head to the diner, just a few blocks away.

* * *

"Seth! You're early aren't you?" Jackie said surprised when she saw him burst through the back door.

"Is… she…here…yet?" Seth panted as he tried to catch his breath from running all that way.

"No she's not, I thought you were at the show?"

"Lily got up to leave half hour before the show ended so I had to get out of there to chase her, I can't let her run from me again"

Jackie smiled and then said "Well I'm finished up in here if you wanna come take a look" Seth smiled and then followed Jackie into the main part of the diner and he was amazed. The whole room was filled with candles, roses and rose petals spread all over the floor. Soft music was playing from the jukebox and two glasses of champagne were set on the counter surrounded by more rose petals.

"Jackie it's amazing" Seth said as he walked around the room taking it all in.

"Lily will love it" Jackie said making Seth smile, "Roses have always been her favourite flower" Seth grinned but then turned his attention to the main doors of the diner when he heard somebody quietly open them… she was here.

* * *

Lily walked down the street heading towards the diner smiling to herself. She was taking in the nightlife and watching everybody laughing and having fun. At first she envied them because they were in big groups, but then she thought about how lucky she was to have Josh, Jackie and everybody else down at the diner. That's all she needed, the people she loved most and her dad's precious diner.

"Jackie must not be here" Lily said to herself as she approached the diner noticing all of the lights switched off. Even though the diner was closed to the public, all of the staff were still allowed to hang out down there and hopefully refurbish it and bring it back to its former glory. All of Lily's childhood memories were down at this place and she was going to do everything possible to restore it back to how it used to be.

After looking through all of the windows and seeing no sign of Jackie, she suddenly had second thoughts about going into the diner. But then she thought about her dad and her feet just kept walking towards the doors. She reached out and pushed the door hearing the little bell ring inside,

"Why are the doors open?" she asked herself as she stepped inside the diner confused. She looked around and saw it was completely deserted but it was filled with a small flickering glow coming from hundreds of candles that had been spread around the room. Rose petals covered the floor and roses were everywhere, on the counters and all over the booths.

Lily slowly stepped forward after shutting the door and was just completely amazed at what was in front of her.

"Oh wow," she said to herself as she felt the tears welling up when she heard her favourite song playing on the jukebox 

_"Josh Kelly- To Make You Feel My Love"_

_When the rain is blowing in your face_  
_And the whole world is on your case_  
_I could offer you a warm embrace_  
_To make you feel my love_

Lily looked around the diner, and then her eyes fell on Seth who was grinning in the ominous glow of the candles.

"Seth" Lily choked out as the tears slowly trickled down her cheeks. Seth stepped closer to Lily who was slowly backing away from him trying to wipe the tears away, but the song fitted the situation they were in.

_When the evening shadows and the stars appear_  
_And there is no one there to dry your tears_  
_I could hold you for a million years_  
_To make you feel my love_

"Lily" he said softly

"Why aren't you at the show with everybody else?" Lily asked and then rolled her eyes.

"I left"

"Why?"

"Because I saw you get up and leave and felt my heart breaking"

"So"

"So, I couldn't let you run away again"

"I didn't run away"

"Yes you did"

"I left because I was angry, you didn't listen to a damn word I said. You sat there and just ate the crowds cheers up with that stupid grin"

"Yes I did listen to you, I listened to every word that came out of that beautiful mouth and I realised that you were right"

_I know you haven't made your mind up yet_  
_But I would never do you wrong_  
_I've known it from the moment that we met_  
_No doubt in my mind where you belong_

"What was I right about?"

"About everything, I shouldn't have paid attention to what the critics were saying and should have focused on myself and what I thought. I am afraid of being myself and not giving a damn, but when I talk to you that's what I feel like doing, not listening to anybody and just focusing on my needs, and your needs"

"But what about what happened at the football game?"

"It made me realise just how much I love you"

"But you looked at me with utter disgust and hate filled eyes"

"I was just so shocked that's all"

"Yeah I could see that, I knew all along that Amy made fun of me with my ugly sisters, but you had no idea did you?"

"I didn't realise that it was you they were talking about"

"No obviously you wouldn't have"

"I never realised you had such a hard time at home"

"Why should you care?"

"Because I love you"

_I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue_  
_I'd go crawling down the avenue_  
_There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do_  
_To make you feel my love_

Lily was quiet for a while, he'd already said it once but now it was sinking in. "Yo-you what?"

"I said I love you, ever since we first started speaking I realised you were different, when you told me all the things you have to do at home it made me realise you were a princess in need of rescuing"

"Bu-but I'm not worth it, I'm nothing Seth really I'm not"

"You're everything, you're a strong young independent woman Lily and that's worth more to me than everything or anyone else"

"But I don't have a future, my book got rejected so I haven't got a future, I'm a lowlife poor Uni student and you're a millionaire creating worldwide successful cartoons"

"That doesn't matter, you matter. You're beautiful personality, you're beautiful face and everything else matters. I love you and I want to be your prince charming"

_The storms are raging on the rollin' sea_  
_Down on the highway of regret_  
_The winds of change are blowing wild and free_  
_But you ain't seen nothing like me yet_

Seth slowly lowered onto one knee and pulled out the box making Lily let more tears fall, "Lily McManus, will you let me be your prince charming so we can live happily ever after?"

_I could make you happy, make your dreams come true  
I know there's nothing that I wouldn't do  
Go to the ends of the earth for you  
To make you feel my love_

Lily just stood there completely choked up, she loved this man and loved him dearly, she could definitely see happily ever after with him. "Yes" she managed to squeak out as more tears slid down her cheeks, "Yes" she said again and smiled when Seth slid the ring on her finger and then pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I love you my beautiful Cinderella"

"I love you too my handsome prince charming"

* * *

"_After that magical night, things just fell into place for me. After weeks of stress and heartbreak, I got my prince charming and I was moving in with him! We were happily building a castle of our own to live in and I couldn't wait. _

_Whilst packing all of my belongings up back at home, I remembered the book that I threw across the room out of anger. Sighing and realising that was a stupid thing to do, I picked it up to pack it away, noticing something slip out of the pages. Crouching down to pick it up and see what it was, I noticed it was an envelope addressed to me. So I opened it and pulled out the note attached to the blue folded up piece of paper:_

Lily my special princess, I told you this book contained important things you needed to know about, you deserve it all. Build your castle Lily; make everybody proud and live happily ever after.

_Dad xxx_

_A huge smile spread across my face when I read the note, it was from my wonderful dad, he'd actually left me something. Opening out the blue paper I realised that it was his will, dad actually left a will after all! _

_It stated that everything belonged to me, the house, the diner, the cars, everything… it was mine! Shock, anger and happiness all ran through me, 12 years of torment from Rachel and there'd been a will all along! Just what kind of sick trick was this woman playing? _

_After going over the will with Seth, Jackie, the police, and a district attorney, they told me that the will was genuine and had actually been signed by Rachel. So revenge was certainly sweet, I took her cars to sell them for extra cash, I got my dads diner finally restored to it's former glory, no roller-skates or pink uniforms, I managed to get my stepsisters to admit that Rachel had trashed my real acceptance letter into the writers academy and I watched Rachel get carted off in handcuffs… result! _

_The diner was bringing in more customers now more than ever before; Jackie was my assistant manager and kept a close watchful eye on Rachel who had agreed to pay off her debts by working in the diner until further notice. My stepsisters managed to flunk University so they ended up working in the diner as well. They were finally doing something as a team, whilst having the occasional slip up. _

_Things even cleared up for Josh and he was much happier, he got accepted onto his drama course and he even landed himself a relationship with somebody who would love and accept him for who he is._

_As for Seth and me well he finally gave me my cell phone back and we sorted all of our differences out. I wound up going to the writers academy and couldn't wait for my book to be published. Seth was still creating cartoons and living out his dreams and this time, __**not**__ listening to what the critics had to say. _

_At last everybody was at peace with each other, we were finally living happily ever after. _

_The End :)  
_


End file.
